immigration reform – RI Future

November 21, 2014November 21, 2014

NBC 10 Wingmen on immigration reform

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

Ever seen a group of guys standing outside a Home Depot when all of a sudden a pickup truck drives by and picks up one or two of them?

Those guys and that contractor are cheating us out of money. This is how the under-the-table day labor economy functions, and it’s largely fueled by undocumented immigrants – people who came here for a better life and have no legal way of contributing to the services the rest of us fund.

Prior to President Obama’s confrontational speech on solving America’s immigration reform last night, this was one of the reasons I cited for why the US needs to act now:

News, Weather and Classifieds for Southern New England

January 17, 2014January 17, 2014

Cicilline, Gutierrez put on pressure for immigration reform

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

David Cicilline has brought his colleague Luis V. Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat from I here to the Ocean State to rally for immigration reform. Today at 5:30 at the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel in Providence. Gutierrez is leading the effort among House Dems for a bi-partisan immigration bill and he will be joined in Providence by Sen. Jack Reed, Laurie White, CEO of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, George Nee, president of the AFL-CIO and Mario Beuno, executive director of Progreso Latino.

Cicilline will have more opportunities to work on this issue with Gutierrez, now that he’s been appointed to the judiciary committee. According to a press release from his office, “In his new role as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Cicilline will help oversee federal immigration policy and help guide legislation through Congress to reform our broken immigration system.”

Here’s the full release:

U.S. Representatives David N. Cicilline (D-RI) and Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL), both members of the influential House Judiciary Committee, will be joined by federal, state, and local leaders, including many elected officials, this Friday, January 17^th at 5:30 p.m. at the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel in Providence to rally for comprehensive immigration reform and call on Congress to enact this important legislation.

Congressman Gutierrez, who is a lead negotiator in the U.S. House of Representatives on a bipartisan immigration reform bill and Chair of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, will be travelling to Rhode Island at Cicilline’s request. Over the past year, Gutierrez has visited states across the country as part of his ongoing effort to build public support for immigration reform legislation in Congress.

Last summer, the U.S. Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform legislation to grow our economy, provide a path to citizenship for deserving immigrants, and secure our borders. Cicilline is an original co-sponsor of similar legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that over the next 10 years this bill would promote job creation and wage increases, cut the deficit by nearly $158 billion, and increase America’s GDP by over $800 billion.

Groups from the business, faith, and labor communities that support immigration reform include: Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Small Business Majority, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Caterpillar, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Interfaith Immigration Coalition, American Jewish Committee, Muslim Public Affairs Council, AFL-CIO, SEIU, UFW, AFSCME, NEW, and TEAMSTERS.

WHO: U.S. Representative David N. Cicilline (D-RI)

U.S. Representative Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL)

U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI)

Laurie White, President and CEO at Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce

George Nee, President of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO

Reverend Donald Anderson, Executive Minister at Rhode Island Council of Churches

Mario Bueno, Executive Director at Progreso Latino

Rhode Island First District residents

WHEN: Friday, January 17^th at 5:30 p.m.

WHERE: Saint Michael The Archangel

239 Oxford Street

Providence

July 10, 2013July 10, 2013

Immigration reform won’t draw Latinos to GOP

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

Senator Lindsey Graham recently said that without immigration reform the Republican Party would be in a “demographic death spiral.” Unfortunately for the Republican Party, even if the House of Representatives manages to pass a similar immigration bill as the Senate did, Republicans are unlikely to win over Hispanics, particularly young Hispanics who make up the future of the Latino vote and are the largest segment of the voter-eligible Latino population.

Although 55% of Latinos report that immigration is the most important issue facing the Hispanic community, once immigration reform is passed, Latino voters will have to choose their candidates based on other issues and given where they fall on the vast array of social and economic policy issues, Latinos are unlikely to vote for the current Republican lineup anytime soon.

Let’s look at where Latinos stand on the issues. We’ll start with social issues since that is often the place where Republicans claim they will resonate with Latino voters. Indeed, Latinos are more religious than the population at large and are more likely to be members of socially conservative denominations (approximately 68% identify themselves as Roman Catholics and 15% say they are evangelical Protestants). However, even given this fact, the numbers don’t look good for Republicans:

68% of Latinos ages 18-29 support same-sex marriage. In fact, over 50% of all Latinos favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry and 60% of Latinos say that homosexuality should be accepted and not discouraged.
Young Latinos are very pro-choice. 53% of those 18-29 say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

However, Latinos overwhelmingly say that it is not these “moral” issues that they care about. In 2011, 75% of Latinos polled said that politicians should be focusing on economic issues such as jobs, taxes, and the minimum wage. So let’s look at where they stand on the size of government and economic issues. Again, the picture is not good for Republicans.

75% of Latinos say they would rather have a larger government that provides more services than a smaller government with fewer services.
82% say they think the government needs to do more to solve problems. Only 18% think that a smaller government is better.
60% say that the government should ensure that everyone has access to health care (and 60% say Democrats are closer to their position on health care). More to the point, very few Latinos support repealing Obamacare and 73% oppose reducing spending on Medicare.
84% say they want the Environmental Protection Act to do more to limit air pollution and 86% say they support President Obama using executive powers to limit pollution that causes global warming.
77% say they support raising taxes on the wealthy as a way to balance the budget (including over 50% of those Latinos who identify as Republican) and only 8% say they would support a spending cuts only approach.

Although 43% of Latinos say they would be more open to voting for a Republican if “they take a leadership role” in passing immigration reform, only 14% of Latinos say they identify with the Republican Party. Given where the Latino electorate appears to fall on other salient issues, this number is unlikely to change anytime soon, even if immigration reform manages to get through the political labyrinth of Congress.