As commonsense immigration reform moves from the Senate to the House, a growing coalition of elected officials from across the country is urging Congress to fix our broken system. Last month, we heard from bipartisan state and local officials from the South, Southwest, Northeast, West, and Midwest on why they support immigration reform and how it will help their communities. In the past few weeks, state and local elected officials have further intensified their efforts to urge Congressional action.
State and local elected officials understand that commonsense immigration reform is the right policy for our country and makes good economic sense for middle class families. Earlier this month, the White House released a report highlighting the numerous and varied economic benefits of fixing our broken immigration system, including helping to grow our economy by creating new business and jobs.
Yesterday, White House Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Muñoz spoke about the local economic costs of inaction on the federal level:
"Because the crux of the matter is that, while Congress and the federal government have the authority to set immigration law and enforce it, local governments live with the results of what Congress does and fails to do."
Below are some of the elected officials who recently added their voices in support for commonsense immigration reform:
On July 17th, Governors from 15 states sent a letter to Congress urging them to pass commonsense immigration reform and highlighting the economic benefits to their states.
"We all recognize that immigrants contribute a great deal to our economy and our culture. We should make sure they are fully integrated into the social, civic and economic fabric of American life and have access to the same opportunities to succeed as everyone else. As Governors, we encourage you to adopt bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform legislation that reflects the values of our nation and contributes to the growth of our economies.”
After the U.S. Senate approved a comprehensive immigration bill on June 27th, the U.S. Conference of Mayors issued the following statement:
“The nation’s mayors applaud the Senate’s decisive passage of bipartisan legislation that will repair our broken immigration system…We urge the House of Representatives to follow the Senate’s strong lead and adopt comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform legislation this year. This is the right thing to do for our families, our cities, our economy, and our country.”
Fonte: White House