We Did It! No Turning Back

From Rich Stolz, Reform Immigration FOR America

Dear Friends and Supporters,

On March 21, 2010 more than 200,000 grassroots leaders from across America called on Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform NOW. Together, we called for recognition and dignity through reform of our broken immigration laws. Event participants lifted up the tremendous diversity of our movement: conservatives and progressives, immigrants from dozens of nationalities, native born and immigrant workers and families, faith leaders, labor leaders, business leaders… the list goes on and on. I felt and heard the urgent need for reform, and blocks away, I know that Congress could feel it too.

Following the March FOR America, thousands of you flooded Congress with faxes and phone calls, driving the point home that we are watching Representatives and Senators closely. Many stayed overnight and held dozens of meetings with Senators and Representatives in the Capitol. Hundreds more protested the Republican National Committee and succeeded in getting a meeting with RNC Chairman Michael Steele demanding that the Republican Party take responsibility for the rhetoric and actions of their most extreme anti-immigrant leaders and to support a bipartisan effort for comprehensive immigration reform. Last night, thousands more rallied in San Francisco, CA.

The work ahead will be even more important than all we accomplished this last weekend. What have now is a bi-partisan blueprint for reform as reflected in an Op Ed in the Washington Post authored by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY). We have the support and commitment of the President, who knows he'll be held accountable by a broad coalition of reform supporters. And we have the public support of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

What we need now is a bill, and on March 21 we called for a bi-partisan bill by the end of April. We are calling on all of our allies and partners to press their Senators to support a bi-partisan process that will get us to legislation in the next 6 weeks. We intend to have a hand in shaping it so that it reflects our principles to the greatest extent possible. Where we end up at the end of this legislative process, if we succeed in getting to a bill in the coming weeks, will also be strongly influenced by the legislation that nearly 100 Representatives co-sponsored in December: CIRASAP (HR 4321).

Finally, please take a moment today to reflect and remember the tremendous hope and energy we all felt at the March FOR America. That will carry us through the challenging work ahead. And today, please take a moment to pray or reflect on the story of Miriam Vega, who was killed in a car accident on her way to the March FOR America. We can and will honor her memory with the work we do together.

In Hope and Solidarity,

Rich Stolz
Reform Immigration FOR America