From Rich Stolz, Campaign Manager, RI4A Campaign:
Here is a relatively succinct summary of where we are with regard to comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
Senator Schumer and Senator Graham have both affirmed that they will continue to work with each other on comprehensive immigration reform legislation, despite Graham’s comments following the healthcare bills enactment. Â Senator Schumer’s staff has legislative language for most of the bill (though we haven’t yet seen it), but the major exception is the treatment of the future flow program with regard to low-wage workers.
Therefore, the major next hurdle will be the deal that labor and industry interests will need to seal. Â We can’t predict how long this will take, but we do know that business interests from a wide range of industries are meeting with White House and Senate staff, that the Chamber of Commerce has expressed willingness to push forward, and that representatives of the AFL and other unions are also prepared to deal. Â Senator Schumer has met with AFL President Trumka, and we are now trying to figure out how the negotiations will actually proceed.
To create pressure on this process we’ve pressed the White House and Senate leadership on a deadline for getting a bill by the end of April; by May 1st we’ll be able to assess if the President and Schumer are serious, or if we’re simply being strung along. If they are serious, we would have a bill by the middle of May, and would go to Senate Judiciary committee mark-up quickly.
To make this pressure real, the campaign has worked with local partners or through its own staff to hold maor events with key senators in Seattle, Las Vegas, Chicago, and other cities on April 10th. Â We hope to have large events with all the Democratic senate leadership before the end of April. Â We are also driving toward the release of a score card by the end of April, and are in the process of trying to confirm “on the record” support from those senators we anticipate will vote for CIR. Â We’re also going to double down in some key states that are home to Senate Republicans and/or moderate Senate Democrats. Â We will also be throwing down in a number of places on May 1st under the banner of comprehensive immigration reform and the need for administrative relief from deportations. Â We’ll also publicly signal on May 1st our willingness to ramp up a number of more militant tactics (resistance, civil disobedience, etc.) calling attention to the moral crisis that demands reform. Â Whatever happens with legislation, we’ll be prepared to escalate past May 1st.
We do not know at this point in time if this will get us a bill. We’re confident that we can pass a bill through committee. On the Senate floor, though the content of the legislation is not known, we are almost certain of 40 Democratic votes (Senator Reid has indicated he believes he can get more than 50 Democratic votes). Â There are about 15 moderate Democratic senators in play, and 10 more Republican senators in play. We have a decent chance at reaching the magic number of 60. Â The wild card will be the White House and their ability to hold Democrats and the content of the bill. We can’t be certain until we have legislation moving through the House Judiciary Committee, but we think we have the votes in the House.
There are a host of other external and internal factors in play, but this is a run-down of the current plan and timeline. Â As you can see, the next four to five weeks are critical. Â As a campaign, we’re likely to pull together a broad set of discussions in mid-May that will either assess how folks across the movement feel about a bill, and what the campaign should do in the event we do not have a bill.
may first!? good luck!
I'm calling and signing petitions for the enactment of the DREAM ACT.
Wher you are calling and who? Let me know, I will help you. I am in Michigan, I already call my two rep's Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, they are Democrats and they are with us.
F. Vazquez
We need to put pressure on our Congressmen and get this bill moving or we won't see any action for months. I think this is the best thing for us, so I'll definitely be doing my part.
You will get amnesty over your battered and dead bodies should you rely on Graham and Schumer. Those two are in deep sh*t over their other activities and are being watched VERY closely. Tell you an inside tip: Schumer is being quietly investigated for seditious and treasonous acts against America. It seems that he has totally abandoned his oath to swear allegiance to the US and to "support and defend" the Constitution- something that his current actions seem to call into question.
Edward: By all means, go to the Associated Press with your insider's tip. This is definitely something that should be taken seriously.
Joe: No way no to coherence.
"Amnesty is Fraud"(you've got a really weird name, by the way): Bring it on, loudmouth. We aren't hiding.
James: Your promise to give us all "a nice head wound" is in writing. Be advised.
Wow, these people are crazy!!!
I wonder what happened in their lives to make them so full of hate. Oh well, dreamers are obviously far superior and we will win our fight.
wow joy you're so full of joy. Im undocumented and know english. I didn't sneak into the country, my parents brought me here with them at a young age and the border agent let us through without a problem. I didn't steal anyone's job. I don't steal tax dollars. actually, the irs gave me a ITN number so I can do my taxes. I don't litter. I don't "impose" my loud chatter, fuck I don't even like mariachi! and I like speaking english! next time think before you generalize all illegals into one category.
No it is scumbags like yourself that create the racism and bigotry that we are experiencing. Look at the way you want to treat other human beings. You want to "pass the ammunition" to them.
People do have integrity to wait their turn if there was a way to "wait their turn" if you didn't know there is not just a "line" that people can be part of. The system is much more complicated than that.
haha that's funny that you say you will not tolerate law breakers but MLK did say "One may well ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all."
Since you are not a racist at all because you are not an illegal that causes it, then you respect Martin Luther King's words.
Since you are hear illegally, you have no legal rights. You do not care for the American way or anything about America. You just want to steal what you can and not be responsible for anything. If you came here legally, you would have the respect of the American people. They way you are entering and living here now, you are thought of as liars and thieves.
Don't judge after you see both sides. My family came with a tourist visa and decided to stay. In my home country there was nothing for us and here in America we had hope now. Living in America has been a challenge to survive with my single mother. I love this country because it has given me so much and I would like to contribute to it as much as I can. In high school I graduated in the top 5 percent of my class, while working three jobs, being involved in four clubs, and doing countless hours of community service. Now I'm an undergraduate pre-med student at UCLA.
Many don't have the option to come to the U.S. legally, they just pick up the little stuff they have and start heading to the U.S. without looking back. I want to become a productive member of society, but how can I contribute to America if I'm being limited to my potential? I need the DREAM ACT and Comprehensive Immigration Reform to contribute my skills and abilities to the U.S. I work very hard as other fellow undocumented students and immigrants. You need to stop being narrowminded and look at the big picture. When you say "you are thought of as liars and thieves." You are stereotyping a group of people you fully don't understand. When you say "You just want to steal what you can and not be responsible for anything." you don't know what you're saying because who are you to speak for us? You are misinformed like other people and need to ask yourself why do you judge undocumented immigrants negatively when you don't fully know them?
Learn how to spell first, I bet I write better than you and Im undocumented!
Check out NYT scribe Nick Kristof's article, "compassion that hurts" (google it or go here
select.nytimes.com/2006/04/09/opinion/09kristof.html
Calling an illegal an immigrant is tantamount to calling a burgler an invited guest. Eisenhower enacted Operaton Wetback in 1954. Our pathetic politicians appear to lack the courage preferring either cheap labor or Hispanic votes over principles and the rule of law. No amnesty! Begin deportation and eliminate birthright citzenship which was never intended to be used in the manner it is currently interpreted.
I see a lot of posts against amnesty have been removed. Two of mine have been removed.
Yup. This is a no-tolerance zone for haterade. Too bad!
WE ARE AMERICA.
we live in your neighborhoods. take care of your children. pick the fruits you buy in publix. and clean your households. we also study with your children. we may be your bosses. this is our country as much as it yours. we are not going anywhere =]
Wanna bet you aren't going anywhere. You won't get your "amnesty"! Deportation will be brought back soon.
Some friends and I was calling senaters to try to push for imigration reform and now all of a sudden, my friends and there familys have been picked up and deported??? They must be traking us?? I don't think I will be calling anymore!
All the criticism and hate presented in this space does not at all intimidate undocumented immigrants. We understand how all of you developed your opinion about us from the misconceptions presented by society. We want you to know that we are not going to tolerate your treatment any longer. We pay our taxes, work our hardest to have what we have, and are important contributors to society. We will make our voices be heard and you will not ignore us. We are the "Undocumented Immigrant Movement" demanding equality, justice, and we will never give up until we achieve our dreams.
i have been in this country 18 yrs now , making it my home , just feeling kind of same like in a jail here, where is the freedom , cannt get a normal job , i could qualify for, working the worst jobs, i feel like i paid my dues .
by the way its not my fault that u.s. agreed with russia ,to allowing them running over us ,,freeing'' us from hitler, so russia can terrorise us instead of him . just like the east germany ruined by russians for 40 yrs , best example where our country could have been is west germany , since our economy was good before we got occupaid from hitler , then russians. there was a ,,berlin wall all around our country , we couldnt travel,till 1989, nowhere. it was brutal . by the way its not my fault that communist change the regime so after 1989 i could get legaly political asylum in US, my parents were not communists so our family didnt get to have anything ,from ruining other peoples lives, they were thre victims there .i was always wishing that my grandfather would have followed his sister to america long time ago, i could have been born here LEGALLY . I WOULD BE AMERICAN ,if i just would'nt bee out of luck once again .i have never imaagine that this immigration system in this country makes me immposible to become somebody here ,at least get my fair chance to do it legally , like the rest of the americans living here legaly . WHY ME ? what did i do wrong to god ? or is it devil rulling where god stands no chance till the after life on the other world , when we die ?
Wow, reading this has realy made me angry. Leave now while you still have the chance to go about your lives. You have awakened the beast that is the american patriot. Run home quickly. You shitbirds don't have a clue what is on the horizon do you???
Undocumented immigrants usually end as lowly construction workers, caregivers, gardeners, lawnmowers, carpenters and the like. These are jobs that Americans don’t want to do. Deport them all and what would take place to America? A nation of filthy grannies living on grassy age houses?
Do you know how many undocumented people came here legally? How many of them were swindled by shady lawyers or their petitioner died because they waited in the line for so long? Or how many immigrant children are separated from their families because they aged out while waiting for their parents' paperwork to be processed? I do. These scenarios have plagued countless immigrant families, including my own, who have sought to uphold American immigration law and come here legally.
Contempt for your laws? Why don't you ask your Congressman why USCIS refuses to apply the Child Status Protection Act, a law enacted by President Bush to protect immigrant families from being separated? Or why it take decades to immigrate to the U.S.?
While you're at it, why don't you also ask them why they choose not to punish the companies that profit off of the backs of the undocumented?
What you fail to realize is that illegal immigration is the result of all of these issues that administration after administration has refused to address and not anyone's contempt for American law.