Reform Immigration FOR America Reacts to Statement from the White House, Schumer-Graham Legislative Framework

First Concrete Steps in List of Demands from Advocates

Washington DC – Today, the Washington Post published a joint op-ed from Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) outlining their framework for comprehensive immigration reform. The White House immediately praised the Senators for their leadership and pledged “to do everything in my power to forge a bipartisan consensus this year…” The following is a statement by Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum and Chair of the Reform Immigration FOR America campaign.

The op-ed from Senators Schumer and Graham on their four-pillar framework for comprehensive immigration reform legislation is the first concrete step toward achieving comprehensive immigration reform in 2010. The op-ed laid out a broad bipartisan blueprint that ensures undocumented immigrants can work towards citizenship, cracks down on bad actor employers, and creates a flexible legal immigration system so that future immigration is controlled and orderly. However, there are additional elements not mentioned in the op-ed that are absolutely essential to workable immigration reform like family unity, AgJOBS, and the DREAM Act. Reform Immigration FOR America looks forward to seeing the details of the proposal and partnering with Senators Schumer and Graham and other leaders to advance comprehensive legislation this spring that promotes and protects family unity, protects workers and helps with economic recovery, enhances our security, protects the rights of all, and creates millions of new taxpayers. A path to 60 votes in the U.S. Senate will require Republican and Democratic leadership.

Similarly, the White House’s affirmative statement on the Senators’ op-ed is a down-payment on the President’s promise to put the full weight of the White House behind bipartisan reform legislation. We share the President’s sentiment – that this framework is a good first step – and we will be working with the Administration, and leaders from both parties to ensure that 2010 is the year that Congress finally fixes America’s long-broken immigration system.

Today’s developments are timely. This Sunday, more than 50,000 Americans will be pouring into the nation’s capital to demand a solution to one of our country’s most pressing problems. Americans want Washington to work together and solve tough problems. This week represents a golden opportunity for Congress to prove to the American people that they are up to the challenge and can come together to tackle comprehensive immigration reform.

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