Cross-Posted from USAction
Yesterday I joined over 40 other progressive leaders and activists in an act of non-violent civil-disobedience at the U.S. House of Representatives. I chose to get arrested because the time is now for Congress to act on comprehensive immigration reform. For too long the 11 million individuals who live and work in this country (and pay taxes and contribute to our communities in countless ways) have not had a path to citizenship that they so sorely deserve.
While the US Senate has passed a bill (while not perfect by any means) that would create this path for many of the undocumented workers in this country, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives continues to drag their feet. They have refused to consider the Senate bill, refused to consider a sensible comprehensive approach to immigration reform and have slowed any reform process to a crawl.
So I decided along with so many of my brothers and sisters in the progressive movement that in the face of intransigence and delay we would be guided by a greater morality and act, even if that meant we risked arrest. So I was arrested, along with our Program Director Alan Charney, and so many great leaders of our progressive movement, including Heather Booth, President of Midwest Academy (a member of our Board of Directors), Larry Cohen, President of the Communications Workers of America, Arlene Holt-Baker, EVP of the AFL-CIO, Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director of the Center for Community Change, Susan Chinn, Director of the Alliance for Citizenship, Eliseo Medina, Secretary Treasurer of SEIU, Sarita Gupta, Executive Director of Jobs with Justice, Rev. Bobby Love – Senior Pastor, Second Baptist Church of Olathe & Gamaliel representative.
The question is not if immigration reform will happen. It is only a question of when – either this Congress will do the right thing and send President Obama an immigration reform bill that he can sign into law or we will have to take our actions to the ballot box next year. I predict that our actions yesterday will spur a groundswell of actions across the country during this August Congressional recess period. Our state affiliates are gearing up for an August Recess of Action, where they will be holding events and visits to Members of Congress, rapid-response at town halls and other appearances, and letting Congress know that their constituents will not take “no” for an answer. USAction is committed to making sure that we pass comprehensive immigration reform – together we can fight, together we can win! Si se puede – Yes we can!
In solidarity,
Fred Azcarate
Executive Director
USAction