May 31, 2007

After a week of heated debate over the recently introduced comprehensive immigration reform bill, the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (S.1348), Senators have returned to their home states for a week of recess. Although the bill remains highly flawed, there were several hopeful moments during the week, such as the defeat of an amendment that would have encouraged state and local officials to help enforce federal immigration laws and prevented cities from offering sanctuary to undocumented immigrants.

We strongly encourage you and others who support fair and humane comprehensive immigration reform to contact your Senators and urge them to return from their break prepared to work with their colleagues to fix the flaws in the existing bill and take full advantage of this historic opportunity to realize comprehensive immigration reform. The time to act is now! Here are a few points to stress during your call:

• There is an urgent need for Congress to fix our broken immigration system. However, any reform needs to be workable, humane and just.
• We need effective oversight mechanisms to support community security, accountability and rights on the border. Provisions such as expanded border fencing and hiring of thousands of new border patrol agents are not the answers to our current immigration dilemma.
• Family reunification should serve as the cornerstone of our immigration system.
• Any plan should include opportunities for undocumented immigrants already working, living and studying in the United States to achieve legal status and eventually be eligible for permanent residence and citizenship. This legalization process should be simple, fair and accessible.
• Channels for migrants to enter the United States to fill available jobs must be accompanied by strong provisions to prevent exploitation and protect the wages and working conditions of all immigrant and U.S. workers. We are very concerned that a temporary worker program that does not contain any meaningful path to permanent residency for workers would lead to exploitation and the creation of a permanent underclass of workers.

To find your senators' phone numbers in Washington, DC, click on www.senate.gov (see the "Find your Senators" in the upper right hand corner) or call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be transferred to your senators' offices. Contact information for your Senators' state office(s) can be found on her/his website.

We expect continued debate once the Senate reconvenes on Monday, June 4th.