(Washington, D.C) – Ahead of hearings in the House Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees, the Latino Victory Project called on the Republican leadership to finish Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Executive Action taken on November 20th by President Obama is the first step in fixing the broken system.
“Immigration is exactly the type of policy that can bring together Republicans and Democrats. We hope that President Obama’s new measures will inspire Congress to finish the hard work needed to pass comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship” said Cristóbal Alex, President of the Latino Victory Project. “The bi-partisan Senate bill, Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, S. 744, which passed more than a year ago is the logical measure that would repair our broken system.”
Immigration is a fundamentally important issue for the Latino community and the American public at large shows wide-ranging support for reform. In a poll conducted by Latino Decisions and released by the Latino Victory Project and several other national organizations, we found that a combined two-thirds of Latino voters nationwide said that the issue of immigration was either the most important issue or one of the most important issues in their decision to vote. Nearly 60 percent of Latino voters nationwide know an undocumented immigrant. According to a new Hart Research Poll, three-fourths of Americans support the temporary work permits aspect of the action and two-thirds support protecting the undocumented parents of children or young adults.
“President Obama’s decision to address our persistently broken immigration system by using his legal authority through these executive actions is a welcome and extremely hopeful sign for all Americans – especially for those in the Latino community,” said Alex.
