By Jackie Mahendra. Originally posted at America’s Voice.

Today conservative columnist Ruben Navarrette has a pretty simple message for Congress: it’s time to get out those calendars and set a date for immigration reform legislation.

He also goes one step further and suggests that immigration reform advocates send calendars to Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who stated earlier this year that he would have an immigration bill drafted by Labor Day.

Navarrette argues:

There’s a good chance that the Schumer bill is written and languishing in his desk drawer. After all, the senator had a very clear road map of where he wanted to go. In June, during a speech in Washington, Schumer laid out seven principles that he said would guide the legislation. Yet, five months later, no bill has been unveiled.

Hence, I think immigration reform activists should flood Schumer’s office with thousands of 2009 calendars, each one with a red circle around Labor Day.

Navarrette concedes that health care reform is eating up much of the political space needed to get other key reforms done, and that this has delayed progress:

The smart money says that Schumer — either on his own, or at the urging of the White House — decided to hold the legislation until next spring to give the Senate time to wrap up the all-consuming health care reform debate.

One thing is clear, pressure on Congress is mounting to swiftly pass common-sense immigration reform when it is introduced in the weeks and months ahead.

Categories: New York, comprehensive immigration reform

Tags: america's voice, chuck schumer, immigration reform, ruben navarette