Shameful Anti-Immigrant Bill Must Be Defeated

WASHINGTON, DC - Speaker Boehner will soon have to decide whether to move forward with virulently anti-immigrant legislation sponsored by Representative Diane Black (R-TN) and passed by the House Judiciary Committee earlier this week. Representative Black's bill would defund a position within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) charged with taking complaints and intervening where necessary to avert serious abuses and errors by agency employees. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) suggested earlier this week that the Black bill could come to the House floor as early as next week. In response to these developments, Rocio Saenz, Executive Vice President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) issued the following statement:

I am constantly amazed by the lack of shame exhibited by House Republicans. They want us to believe they are willing to move forward on commonsense immigration reform. But in reality, the most anti-immigrant House members are still the ones calling the shots. About nine months have passed since the Senate passed a bipartisan bill and sent it to the House. Anti-immigrant members in the House have pressured their leadership to do nothing instead and they have been successful. House leadership has refused to schedule a vote on the Senate bill or consider any alternatives to make our system more humane and just.

"In fact, the only vote they've allowed was to resume deportation of DREAMers brought to the U.S. as children. Almost all Republicans voted for that bill. Now, after so many months, we hear they are scheduling another vote on an anti-immigrant bill that would make our broken immigration laws even less humane than they already are.

"The time for real commonsense immigration reform is now. This outrageous bill should be defeated in the House and both sides should come together to find common solutions."

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