Day 1 of Senate Debate Marks Distinction between the Majority, Standing with the American Public, and the Naysayers

What to expect from Senators as the American public watches and mobilizes

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, after the U.S. Senate began debate on the bipartisan immigration bill, Eliseo Medina, Secretary-Treasurer of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), issued the following statement:

Today, we heard Senators Jeff Sessions, Mike Lee and Patrick Leahy draw the lines between a small minority of naysayers and the majority who stand with the American public to deliver a fair and sensible bill.

"Senators will face important decisions, and they can either lose face or come to terms with the fact that our country needs to reform our out-of-date and inefficient immigration system. As we saw today, there will be some who will follow the likes of Senators Sessions and Cornyn and attempt to undermine the heart of the bill by offering amendments that will try to create a second-class status and leave people in limbo for decades.

"There will even be efforts to make immigration legislation more expensive and weaken protections for working American and future families. These efforts and attempts to skew the facts won't pay off. While other Senators will try to strengthen the bill with amendments that protect families, the broadest, most unprecedented coalition of diverse communities, industries and organizations will be watching and mobilizing to ensure that the Senate passes the best immigration bill possible, one worthy of the public's demand and of our nation's values.

"America is ready for commonsense immigration reform. It's time to deliver."

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