FROM PRO-AMNESTY WEBSITE:
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[quote]Over the years, I have been a huge supporter of Representative Luis Gutierrez’s efforts to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Therefore, I was neither surprised nor disappointed by the extremely worthy legislation, The Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity, (CIR ASAP), that he and his fellow House members delivered on 12/15/09. In my opinion, the bill lays out the groundwork for a very intelligent, cogent, and realistic pathway that will enable our nation to achieve a fair and just immigration policy.

However, as someone who is deeply involved in the intricacies of this issue on a daily basis, I have to look at this legislation from within the context of the honest and realistic environment that this CIR bill will need to navigate, as it works its way through the Congress and to President Obama’s desk. Last week, I spoke at a press conference in Los Angeles. During my speech, I attempted to highlight the following points, as I explained my reasoning as to why I now felt that the time had indeed arrived for supporters of CIR to publicly demonstrate their support for CIR.

I explained that while the CIR ASAP bill was an important step in the pathway toward achieving CIR, the fact of the matter was that House Speaker Polosi has already stated publicly that she has no intention of allowing this bill anywhere near the floor of the House, unless and until CIR has already passed in the Senate. On a positive note, there are indications that the Senate will start work on this as early as mid-January, or February at the latest. However, we all have to bear in mind that we have a rather small window of opportunity to get this legislation passed, or the politics of the mid-term elections will negate any possibility of legislative action for realistically another two years or more.

New York Senator Charles Schumer has indicated that significant progress has been made in seeking to achieve comprehensive immigration reform early next year. Schumer gave a lengthy interview to El Diario this week in which he made some very telling points about his strategy, as immigration reform becomes an issue on the agenda for the early months of 2010. Clearly he is trying to achieve a fait accompli before the bill ever gets to the House or Senate floor. He is working closely with Senator Lindsey Graham to try and achieve that. (The following quotes are a Google translation form the original Spanish version that appeared in El Diario).

“The only way I can make this happen, is that when we announce the law, we are all together, immigrants, employers, trade unions, religious groups, evangelical, Democrats and Republicans, “Schumer said stating that negotiations between these groups have made considerable progress.â€