Representative Luis Gutierrez, along with the Hispanic Congressional Caucus and a group of Democrat congressmen, introduce this Tuesday December 15 a comprehensive immigration reform bill to open a path for citizenship for about 12 million of undocumented immigrants who are living and working under the shadows in the United States economy.
The bill, called the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP), will be introduced in the House of Representatives with the support not only the Hispanic Caucus, but also from the Progressive, African-American, and the Asian – American congressional caucuses, wrote Gutierrez, a democrat representative for Illinois a blog entry in The Huffington Post.
Gutierrez traveled over the last year across the country with his colleagues conducting a United Families Tour. This travel allowed the Illinois representatives to closely know the huge family problems arising from massive deportations.
“In twenty-four cities across the country, we heard from families who were being ripped apart by the current system,” Gutierrez wrote in the Huffington Post. “We’ve heard stories from a father dying from cancer whose wife faced deportation. We’ve heard from American citizen children who are faced with choosing between their parents and a college education.”
“This is a crisis. It’s a crisis of human and civil rights, it’s a crisis of our economy and our workforce, and it’s a crisis of national security. This is why we cannot wait any longer,” said Gutierrez.
The bill will be supported by Valley congressmen. Solomon Ortiz, representing the 27 District of Texas, will be in attendance in a press conference Gutierrez is planning to offer this Wednesday to divulge the word of CIR ASAP.
The bill received full support from some Rio Grande Valley organizations.
“CIR-ASAP outlines a vision for immigration reform that is desperately needed. The people of the Rio Grande Valley, of Texas, and of America know our immigration system is broken, and that it tears families apart. It’s time to do the right thing and pass common sense reform that restores fairness to our labor markets, recognizes the contributions of immigrant workers and families and helps get the economy back on track. We want our leaders to solve tough problems and today we saw leadership from the diverse coalition behind Comprehensive Immigration Reform,” said Martha Sanchez, la Union del Pueblo (LUPE) organizing coordinator.
Juanita Valdez-Cox, LUPE’s executive director added: “We can’t afford more delay, it’s time to fix out broken immigration system. Today was a big step in the right direction, and we hope Congress follows Rep. Gutierrez’ example.” Maria Gomez, LUPE Organizer added her thoughts saying, “We need immigration reform that is just and humane. A good bill would put us on the road to economic recovery and create safe communities at the border.”
