Gutierrez, House Working Group on Immigration Dems Meet with New Democrat Coalition to Plan Future of Comprehensive Reform Bill
Today, Democrats from the House informal working group on Immigration – the “Gang of Seven” – met with the moderate New Democrat Coalition to chart a forward course for immigration reform in the House. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (IL-04) called on Speaker Boehner to abandon the Republicans’ “go-it-alone” strategy on immigration. Gutierrez’s call was joined by the New Dems’ Immigration Task Force Co-Chairs, Rep. Jared Polis (CO-02), Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX-20), and Rep. Joe Garcia (FL-26).
“If Speaker Boehner is interested in saving the Republican Party, I hope he will reconsider his decision to enforce the Hastert Rule on the House’s immigration bill. We will get nowhere if the Speaker caters only to the opponents of immigration in his Party. As I said on the floor yesterday, the best chance to get a good result for the American people is if the Speaker approaches immigration in a bipartisan manner. I am meeting with the New Democrats today because I recognize that they will ultimately be very important in House negotiations,” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez.
“The members of the New Democrat Coalition are serious about working in a bipartisan manner to pass comprehensive immigration reform,” said Rep. Jared Polis. Speaker Boehner and the House Republican Conference have an opportunity to take on the challenge of real, meaningful bipartisan reform to meet the needs of our economy and protect our borders. Rather than working to criminalize future Americans who are living in the shadows, the New Democrat Coalition wants to work with House Republicans to create an earned pathway to citizenship and pass an immigration reform bill that will fundamentally help to grow our economy and as the Congressional Budget Office report demonstrates, would serve to reduce our deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars.”
“I am encouraged to hear about the progress our ‘Gang of Seven’ colleagues are making as momentum continues to build for legislation that finally fixes our broken immigration system, boosts our economy, and slashes the deficit,” said Rep. Joaquin Castro. “I, along with the New Dems, remain committed and optimistic about working constructively with folks on both sides of the aisle to get comprehensive immigration reform done this year.”
“As a New Democrat, I firmly believe that we must welcome immigrants and their families to our shores if we are to remain competitive in the global economy. That’s why I’ve taken a strong stand against an ‘enforcement-only’ approach to immigration that shuts some of our most talented, most promising, most entrepreneurial new arrivals out of the gift of American citizenship. I will continue working with leaders in the New Democrat Coalition to complete the task of overhauling our immigration system,” said Rep. Joe Garcia.”
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