Day 3: Closer to Historic Immigration Reform

Majority of senators move bipartisan bill while Sen. Kirk snubs the Illinois majority's call for commonsense reform

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, the U.S. Senate voted to limit debate and proceed with the bipartisan immigration bill, bringing America one step closer to achieving real immigration reform. While the majority of Senators voted in favor to move forward, Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) decided to vote twice against proceeding despite representing a state with one of the largest Latino populations and diverse communities in the country and who overwhelmingly support immigration reform.

Eliseo Medina, the Service Employee International Union's (SEIU) Secretary-Treasurer, issued the following statement:

With the fate of immigration reform in their hands, a majority of Senators have driven our nation forward on the road to true, commonsense immigration reform. Now, they will have to decide whether to succeed by standing with the chorus of diverse Americans calling for a comprehensive package of reforms, or blemish their legacy with poison pill amendments and votes against such legislation.

"Already, we have seen today that a few would rather ignore the voices of the consensus or the chance, as Senator Patrick Leahy eloquently articulated, to make our country better. Senator Mark Kirk unwisely voted against his own state's immigration reform supporters, one of the nation's most vocal and largest Latino communities that have long fought for immigrant justice.

"Why deny the progress we have all made for immigration reform? Compromise, hard work and the mobilization of a broad coalition of industries, groups and communities have taken us this far with a strong, bipartisan bill that will create an inclusive and accessible roadmap to citizenship, protect all working families and strengthen the unity of families and our economy.

"While there's room for improvement, there's no space for ruses or attempts to undermine the path to citizenship under the guise of border security concerns. We've had enough of that. Time to cross the threshold with real, commonsense immigration reform."

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