(September 13, 2007) Boyle Heights – Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) reassured more than 150 area residents who gathered at Dolores Mission Catholic Church on South Gless Street that she and other members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are continuing to fight for just and fair immigration reform, despite recent setbacks. At the gathering, community members presented the congresswoman with two boxes filled with hundreds of letters appealing to the congresswoman to continue her advocacy for immigration legislation that keeps families unified and provides a pathway to legalization. Pictured from left to right: Bishop Oscar Solis, Auxiliary Bishop of Ethnic Ministries for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles; Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard; and Ana Zarceño, a community leader.

The following is the complete text of the congresswoman’s remarks (click here for the Spanish translation):

“Thank you for inviting me.

“It is truly an honor to be with you this evening.

“Six months ago I joined you to talk about efforts in Congress to fix our broken and unfair immigration system.

“When we parted we were full of hope that Congress would pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill that was fair and just.

“And I left motivated and inspired by the stories you told of your struggles, fears and dreams for a better future.

“My colleagues and I were also inspired by the thousands of immigrants and advocates from throughout the country who went to Washington and shared with us their stories and dreams for a better life.

“Stories, like yours, that can make you cry – not because they are so horribly unique, but because they are so heartbreaking in their similarities.

“The stories were of mothers too scared to send their children to school or to get their sick child health care, there were stories of fathers who lost their jobs and who worried about going to work for fear of being caught in a raid and forced to leave their family without financial support. There were also stories of children who, brought here as infants, were afraid of being sent to a country they did not know, and stories of hundreds of students who were being denied a college education and the ability to put their talents, language skills, and caring hearts to work for our country and the communities in which they live.

“Given these compelling stories and the thousands of other stories of suffering and pain in our immigrant communities, why was it that Congress failed to pass a comprehensive immigration bill?

“That question is best answered by explaining what happened in the U.S. Senate where the bill first needed to pass if it was going to reach the President.

“Comprehensive immigration reform failed in the Senate for many reasons. One reason was the successful lobbying efforts of anti-immigrant advocates who successfully scared people into believing that immigrants were a threat to our national security and were invading our borders and stealing American jobs.

“While the truth is that immigrants, like yourselves, are decent, hard working individuals who contribute greatly to this country, these truths regrettably fell on deaf ears, and were not enough to produce the 60 Senate votes needed to pass the bill.

“Another reason the bill failed was because there were those who felt that too many compromises had been made in the bill and that it was either too strong or too weak.

“On one side anti-immigrant opponents from the right lobbied against the bill because they saw it as rewarding lawbreakers and failing to stop the flow of undocumented persons who they said negatively influenced American culture and hurt our state and local budgets.

“On the other side, many of our friends and immigrant advocates lobbied against the bill because they felt it failed to do enough to reunite families. They also felt that among other things, it unjustly prevented immigrants from becoming citizens, and unfairly required immigrant heads of households to return to country of origin before being able to legalize their status.

“This opposition combined with the almost unanimous opposition by Republicans who want no path to legalization for the undocumented who are already here, was a powerful force that helped defeat the bill.

“While it is true that there were many reasons to oppose the bill many advocates and members of Congress such as Senator’s Kennedy, Feinstein, Reid, Menendez, Martinez and Salazar together with Congressman Luis Gutierrez, myself, and the members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus believed that given the anti-immigrant mood in the country, this bill outweighed the flaws in the bill because it was our best and possibly only chance in the near future to legalize thousands of immigrants and begin moving the process towards comprehensive reform.

“We also believed that the problem areas of the bill could be fixed with a new administration and a stronger Democratic Congress.

“Nevertheless, with politics framing the immigration debate, the anti-immigrant community united in opposition to the bill, and the pro-immigrant community divided in its support, it was easier for many Senators to simply vote against the bill especially with presidential and congressional elections around the corner.

“This was especially true for Republican senators. The positions of their party’s presidential candidates made it difficult for them to compromise on such a controversial issue.

“These Senators knew their votes on immigration reform could affect the support of their constituents on Election Day.

“These are the main reasons comprehensive immigration reform failed in the Senate.

“So where do we go from here?

“The general consensus in Congress is that comprehensive immigration reform cannot pass until after the 2008 Presidential elections.

“And even then it could take several years.

“In spite of this view, the members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and I are determined to continue the fight for comprehensive reform this year.

“Immediately following the defeat in the Senate, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus met with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders and gained their support for continuing the fight in spite of the naysayers.

“Last week, as a result of our meeting with Congressional leaders, the House held a hearing on the STRIVE Act. This hearing is the first step needed to put together a new immigration bill for this year.

“As you know the STRIVE ACT is a comprehensive immigration reform bill authored on behalf of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus by Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Democrat from Illinois. Rep. Flake, a Republican from Arizona is a co-author.

“Although the STRIVE Act is not what you and I would have wanted for comprehensive immigration reform, this bill is an end product of at least 12 years of struggle to pass legislation that provides a path to legalization for the millions of people who have been living in the shadows for many years.

“The STRIVE Act would overhaul the immigration system in a way that:

protects families;
reduces backlogs and inefficiencies;
strengthens our border security; and
works to establish a legal channel for future immigrant workers coming into the country and, perhaps most significantly, the STRIVE Act would provide a path to legalization for immigrants.

“In addition, the STRIVE Act includes the American Dream Act, a bill that I co-authored with my colleagues Representatives Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Howard Berman.

“The American Dream Act would help undocumented students to afford college and it would provide them with a path to legalization and citizenship.

“While the STRIVE bill is a good compromise bill it does face an uphill battle.

“But we believe it is our strongest starting point if we are going to reach our goal of getting as much as we can to protect our immigrant communities.

“Once again however, we are faced with the same danger of divisiveness that helped defeat comprehensive reform in the Senate.

“As with the failed Senate bill, there are differing views within our pro-immigrant community that threaten our success.

“I am particularly concerned about efforts to have free standing bills rather than fighting for as many of the provisions in the Strive Act as we can win and putting them into one bill.

“The reason for my concern is that if we have free standing bills we risk losing important but less popular reforms.

“For example, there are those who are proposing a separate AgJobs bill.

“The proposed agricultural guest worker program known as AgJOBS is an important and worthy piece of legislation that could help farm workers come to this country legally thereby protecting them from exploitation and providing them with better and safer working conditions.

“Because this bill has the support of the very powerful agriculture industry, there is a good chance it could pass with bi-partisan support. The problem is that this bill will only help one small sector of our economy. And it would not help you, my constituents.

“On the other hand, the Dream Act, which will help many of your children to realize their dream of a college education, does not have a powerful industry lobbing for them in Washington.

“As a result, as worthy and as important as the Dream Act is to so many of our children, without the support of a powerful industry, it could easily fail as a stand alone bill.

“However, if it was connected to the Ag Jobs bill it would benefit from the lobbying efforts of the agricultural industry.
“This would also be true for other crucial elements of comprehensive immigration reform that could directly benefit you, my constituents.

“It is also important to keep in mind that even if the Dream Act and the Ag Jobs bills were to pass as separate bills, it would do nothing to help the millions of immigrants, such as yourselves, that are not farm workers or students.

“And it could take many years before you received any help.

“That is why, I, as your representative of our urban district, and as a person who sees the fight over our nation’s immigration policies as a fight for the dignity and dreams of all immigrants, I believe it is my responsibility to fight with all my might to ensure that you are not left behind in any immigration legislation that passes.

“If it were up to me, I would pass a bill that is fair, just, and provides a path to legalization for every qualified immigrant in our country. Unfortunately, that could not happen in today’s anti-immigrant atmosphere.

“I believe the best way for us to move forward is to be united behind a package of bills that would help our community and at the same time meet the needs of powerful industries such as agriculture. While these industries may care little about the plight of the undocumented immigrant, they will support our issue in order to get what they want passed into law.

“This is a brief overview of what has taken place in Washington over the past few months and what I and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are doing to pass comprehensive immigration reform to help all the undocumented in our country.

“It is important to note that without the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, immigration issues and reform would not have been on anyone’s agenda. It is only because of the Hispanic Caucus that immigration issues continue to be discussed.
“Therefore, I can assure you that I, along with my allies in Congress, will continue to fight to protect you and your families from anti-immigrant policies.

“And I will continue to work for reforms that respect and honor your work and the many contributions you make to our country. I urge you to continue to tell your stories of struggle with others and to keep my office informed as to what is happening in our community.

“Together, we can and we will make a positive difference.

“Thank you again for inviting me and while it is not possible to always know what is happening three thousand miles away in Washington, D.C. please be assured that you and your families are never forgotten. Our fight will never end until we are victorious.”