Monday, January 28, 2013

WASHINGTON, D.C. —The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of thirty leading national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organizations, welcomes the unveiling of a bipartisan framework for an immigration overhaul led by U.S. Senators Charles Schumer (D-­NY), John McCain (R-­AZ), Dick Durbin (D-‐IL), Lindsey Graham (R-­SC), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Marco Rubio (R-­FL), Michael Bennet (D-­CO), and Jeff Flake (R-­AZ).

Hector E. Sanchez, Chair of NHLA stated: “The principles released by the Senate today are an encouraging sign that the immigration reform debate is underway in Congress. We commend these eight Senators for presenting a bipartisan plan. Although the details of a bill remain to be seen, we are pleased that the Senate’s framework includes an earned path to citizenship and recognizes the unique circumstances of those immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. We must seize this momentum and move quickly on pushing forward comprehensive immigration legislation that is just, humane, and better serves the national interest. We look forward to working with these Senators, other Members of Congress, and the Obama Administration to fill in the details and ensure that the final immigration compromise reflects NHLA’s immigration priorities as much as possible.”

Brent Wilkes, LULAC Executive Director stated: “Today was significant. We are energized and optimistic about the bipartisan framework for comprehensive immigration reform that was introduced today by Senators Schumer, McCain, Durbin, Graham, Menendez, Rubio, Bennet, and Flake, as it contains consensus around a pathway to earned citizenship for DREAMers and agricultural Workers. We thank the Senators for embracing cooperation and compromise. It does not escape us that the proposal from the Senate and tomorrow’s White House announcement reflect a major change in our nation’s political landscape. No longer will doing nothing on immigration be acceptable to the Latino community.”

Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel of MALDEF, stated: "These principles, recognizing the primary importance of legal protections and a pathway to citizenship for the millions of immigrants who have been contributing so strongly to our economy and society, provide a needed and useful framework for action in 2013. We look forward to working to ensure that enacted legislation recognizes and addresses all of the elements of our current immigration system that are at odds with our nation's constitutional principles, and that detrimentally affect immigrants and potential immigrants."

Dr. Juan Andrade, Jr., President, United States Hispanic Leadership Institute, stated: “We thank this bipartisan group of Senators for recognizing that our immigration system is broken. We are pleased that the plan commits to a comprehensive approach and not a piecemeal approach, as some have suggested. This 'tough, but fair' approach is a reasonable basis for compromise. We urge the House of Representatives to follow suit. It is obvious that the nation’s political landscape is changing and that political leaders can no longer ignore the need to overhaul the nation's immigration laws.”

Jessica J. González, NHLA Secretary and VP of Policy & Legal Affairs for the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), stated: “I am encouraged by this bipartisan push for comprehensive immigration reform. Creating a common sense pathway to citizenship will show the American people that our leaders in Washington, D.C. are putting the people before the politics.”

Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR, stated: “It is a new day for immigration. This is an incredibly promising sign that policymakers have turned a corner on immigration and are ready to work together on the reform our nation needs and the American people want. The senators’ blueprint also confirms unequivocally that a roadmap to citizenship must be part of resolving this issue. We must build on this pivotal moment of constructive bipartisanship and call on other members of Congress to swiftly act to modernize our immigration system and ensure immigrants are fully integrated into our society.”

Antonio R. Flores, President and CEO of HACU, stated: "We praise all eight senators for the work they have done to reach a bipartisan agreement," said HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores. "The principles recognize that DREAMers did not choose to enter illegally and should not be subject to the same requirements as other individuals to earn a path to citizenship. They also provide for the offering of permanent resident visas to foreign graduate students in STEM fields; while this may be a sound short-term measure, we must also invest in the development of STEM professionals among our citizens as well as DREAM students, rather than over-importing students from other countries or unfairly denying visas to students from Latin American countries. We also urge Congress to define 'serious criminal background' in a fair and balanced manner to preclude the deportation of otherwise eligible immigrants because of youthful mistakes."

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.