November 5, 2015 - LATINO LEADERS DENOUNCE SPEAKER RYAN’S REFUSAL TO ADDRESS IMMIGRATION REFORM

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November 5, 2015

LATINO LEADERS DENOUNCE SPEAKER RYAN’S REFUSAL TO ADDRESS IMMIGRATION REFORM

Coalition disappointed new Speaker refuses to work on key priority

Washington, D.C. – The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of 40 of the nation's preeminent Latino advocacy organizations, denounced newly-elected House Speaker Paul Ryan for his editorial in USA Today yesterday stating that, under his leadership, the U.S. House of Representatives will not consider any immigration reform legislation during the final year of President Obama’s presidency. Last week, NHLA sent Speaker Ryan a letter outlining its priorities and requesting a meeting with him on how to advance those priorities in Congress, including immigration reform. Earlier this year, NHLA’s Chair laid out a pragmatic agenda of several bipartisan issues on which Congress could act, including immigration reform.

"This year, Members of Congress have found the time to debate punitive anti-immigrant legislation and hold hearings that unfairly characterized immigrants as criminals, yet they have spent no time on considering practical solutions to our broken immigration system. We were hopeful that Speaker Ryan would turn the page on such political point-scoring tactics and instead focus on practical solutions to the problems facing our nation. Our hope was clearly misplaced as Speaker Ryan has chosen to play an irresponsible political game and flat-out refuse to deal with an issue that so deeply affects millions of families and our economy," said Hector Sanchez, Chair of NHLA and Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.

“Refusing to act on needed legislation out of pique is not leadership; Speaker Ryan’s refusal to consider needed immigration reform legislation betrays his true agenda,” stated Thomas A. Saenz, Vice Chair of NHLA and President and General Counsel of MALDEF. “Publishing reckless allegations that the well-established executive power of prosecutorial discretion is somehow illegitimate for this President prioritizes political gamesmanship over national service.”

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Established in 1991, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) brings together Hispanic leaders to establish policy priorities that address, and raise public awareness of the major issues affecting the Latino community and the nation as a whole. In 2013, NHLA launched the Latinos United for Immigration Reform campaign. For more information, please visit www.nationalhispanicleadership.org and LatinosUnited.org and follow @NHLAgenda.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

| Teresa Acuña | teresa@nationalhispanicleadership.org | (202) 508-6917 |