Urgent Legislative Alert - Immigration Reform

By Jessica Johnson Bennett

On Monday, March 27, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform bill that protects our borders and addresses the critical issues plaguing our immigration system in a way that will allow businesses the workers we need to continue to grow.

However, the fight is not over and we need your help to advocate for workable reform measure in the full Senate.

There are those in the Senate who would prefer to address the problem of illegal immigration by imposing heavy penalties and unreasonable mandates on businesses, without fixing the underlying broken immigration laws. There are others who demand that all seven million undocumented workers go home. These approaches are damaging to business and could happen without your help.

What is needed is a comprehensive immigration reform bill like the one approved by the Judiciary Committee that would enhance border security, create a program allowing employers to hire from abroad when US workers are not available, and allow undocumented workers to earn green cards after paying a fine, meeting other tough conditions such as learning English and paying back taxes.

On Monday, April 3, the full Senate debated the Judiciary Committee's proposed legislation. Please do two things:

ONE: Call, fax, or email your Senators and ask them to support this bill.

Download a sample letter to send to your Senators today!

TWO: Contact the following Senators who are key to the debate: Senator DeWine, Senator Brownback, Senator Martinez, Senator Specter and Senator Feinstein and thank them for being champions on these issues.

Anti-immigration groups are flooding Senate phone lines and we need to demonstrate that responsible, workable immigration reform has widespread support. Senate staffers have told us that for every one call they receive backing a workable solution they receive 100 anti-immigrant calls. This is unacceptable, please take action and don't wait for someone else to weigh in on your behalf. Please forward to colleagues, friends and family; we are all stakeholders in this debate. It is time that we make our concerns heard.

About the Author

Jessica Johnson Bennett was the Director of Government Affairs for MCAA. She has an extensive background in public affairs and government relations. Her expertise in strategic planning, PAC management and operations help on key policy issues.