Cornyn and King poison pill amendments defy America's call for commonsense immigration reform

WASHINGTON, DC - While the American public continues to embrace efforts to reform our dysfunctional immigration system with smart legislation that creates a roadmap to citizenship, recent news reports reveal that Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) will introduce poison pill amendments that would drastically alter the heart of the bipartisan immigration bill by imposing overly burdensome triggers, threatening to delay the path to citizenship for millions of aspiring Americans.

Joining the small minority of Congressmen attempting to thwart the progress made to achieve commonsense immigration reform, U.S. Representative Steve King (R-IA) sponsored an amendment, passed today by the House, to the 2014 Department of Homeland Security spending bill that would defund President Obama's orders to focus deportation efforts on undocumented immigrants with criminal convictions.

The Service Employees International Union's (SEIU) International Secretary-Treasurer, Eliseo Medina, issued the following response:

This is d̩j vu all over again. As Congress gets closer to reaching bipartisan consensus on immigration reform, the usual suspects are rising to the occasion, spinning anti-immigrant rhetoric veiled by concerns over border security and constitutional righteousness.

"Not too long ago, Senator Cornyn attempted to poison immigration legislation with outlandish and impractical proposals that undercut aspiring citizens' ability to earn citizenship. Here again, Senator Cornyn stands on the wrong side of history, as he prepares to offer amendments that would leave immigrants in limbo on the path to citizenship, granting them a decade's worth of life as second class residents until infeasible border metrics and triggers are met.

"We don't need to read the entirety of the amendments' text to know that this is against our American values, and likely won't change Senator Cornyn's position on immigration reform overall. The case isn't much different in Representative Steve King's amendment to the DHS bill that would eliminate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Unfortunately, the House has indulged his punitive efforts against all hardworking immigrants, particularly DREAMERs who have benefitted from President Obama's order on deferred action.

"Representative King has chosen to ignore the lessons of the past that Mitt Romney and his anti-immigrant talks of 'self-deportation' were too late in learning. A majority of American voters do not appreciate or support anti-immigrant attempts or rhetoric. It's time to move forward with the rest of the growing consensus of diverse communities, groups and industries that want a just and sensible immigration system that will allow our aspiring citizens to walk the path to citizenship without unreasonable barriers.

"Our nation is ready for commonsense immigration reform. The choice is clear - they can stand with the American people or further isolate themselves from the growing consensus in Congress that call for smart and fair immigration legislation."

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