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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact:
March 7, 2013 Julian Teixeira
jteixeira@nclr.org
(202) 776-1812
NCLR President and CEO Janet Murguía and Latino activists urge Congress to move comprehensive immigration reform forward
Washington, D.C.—Today, NCLR (National Council of La Raza) President and CEO Janet Murguía was joined by hundreds of community leaders and activists representing 31 states, including Texas, Florida, Idaho, Tennessee and North Carolina, at an early afternoon press conference where they called for purposeful action on immigration reform.
“The conversations have begun and we know that proposals will soon be introduced, but today we are here asking members of the House and Senate to work together on a real solution and not let politics get in the way of delivering the reform our broken immigration system needs. The longer we wait, the longer we subject families to painful separations and the longer we deny hardworking, talented people from fully integrating and contributing to our economy,” said NCLR President and CEO Janet Murguía.
The press conference served as the culminating event in a series of events and actions organized by NCLR this week. On Tuesday, March 5, NCLR hosted its 26th annual Capital Awards where honorees included New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, United We Dream and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas. On Wednesday, March 6, NCLR held a full day of training and workshops during its annual National Latino Advocacy Days event, and today, following the press conference, hundreds of Latino leaders are scheduled to meet with their members of Congress to urge them to support a comprehensive solution that includes a roadmap to citizenship.
“We need to find a way to address the situation of those who are already here in a fair and effective way. It is unacceptable that we create an entire underclass of workers in our nation, and that’s why a pathway to citizenship must be a part of the solution. Immigration reform makes sense for the economy, it makes sense for our families, and it makes sense for our future competitiveness,” concluded Murguía.
NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.
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