Immigration Reform Supporters Urge Congress to Act Now to Fix Our Broken Immigration System

WASHINGTON, DC - As part of an effort to stress the urgency for Members of Congress to act to pass commonsense immigration reform with path to citizenship, immigrant rights, faith, labor and business organizations are preparing plans for the August Congressional recess period to engage voters and constituents around the issue. Eliseo Medina, Secretary-Treasurer of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), was arrested today at a civil disobedience event on Capitol Hill and issued the following statement:

Our action today is meant to communicate the moral urgency of reforming our broken immigration system. The current system does not work and exacts a toll of misery on both immigrants and our economy. We have spent billions of dollars on deportations at the expense of investing in our schools, our infrastructure and programs that build up the economy. We must reform this failed approach in a way that treats immigrants with respect and reflects our morals and values as a nation.

"We took this action because we cannot allow the House to waste time. The urgency of the situation is too great. People are dying in the desert as they try to cross the border from Mexico, thousands of immigrants have been deported and every day families are being torn apart. We need to fix the system and we need to fix it now.

"While we have momentum on our side, some House Republicans still don't get it. Instead of moving forward with a serious, comprehensive bill, the House chose to take a vote to deport DREAMers. And when we hear hateful rhetoric from Members of Congress like Representative Steve King, it gives us even more resolve to stand up for what we believe in - a pathway to citizenship.

"Speaker Boehner needs to understand the urgency for reform. Until the House passes a bill that includes a pathway to citizenship, we will continue to be in the streets, at town hall meetings and on the phones, demanding justice for the 11 million aspiring Americans in our country."

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