Milwaukee, WI – In response to the Republican principles for immigration reform released yesterday, below is a statement from Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera:
The Republican Party can and must do more than what has been offered up by their document yesterday.
The absence of concrete legislation means that it is open to interpretation as to how severe the triggers to legalization would be. Based on their legislative record in 2013 – voting to deport DREAMERS that qualified under DACA and introducing draconian anti-immigrant bills – it can easily be interpreted to be a resuscitation of Romney’s failed self-deportation platform.
These principles also demonstrate that Republicans continue to be out of touch with the vast majority of the country that has made it clear that they support legislation that offers a broad and accessible path to citizenship. A path to citizenship has historically strengthened our nation as a pluralistic society, and our economy by increasing stability and spending and raising standards for all workers.
If the Republican Party is serious about addressing this issue, they need to produce a bill that provides a meaningful path to citizenship, or they will continue to be completely disassociated from Latino voters.
In the meantime, we will continue to call on the President to do his part with an executive order to suspend deportations, and policies that criminalize the same people who would be the very beneficiaries of the reform he says he wants Congress to pass.
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