Immigration reform advocates announce call-in actions

WASHINGTON—As the nation nears the end of the first 100 days of the Obama administration, NCLR (National Council of La Raza) announced a five-day “Reflection and Action: A National Call-In for Immigration Reform.”

From house call-in parties to community center and church gatherings, the goal is for participants to come together between April 27 and May 1 to reflect on immigration reform and call their members of Congress to continue the push for immigration reform, NCLR announced.

A video “America’s Immigration Legacy” will be shown at the call-in parties.

NCLR said it has nearly 30 registered events in 16 states and the District of Columbia, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.

“We are part of the steady drumbeat of support for workable immigration reform, and we can no longer let a bully minority stand in the way of solutions,” said Janet Murguía, NCLR president, in the press release. “There is a policy urgency and a moral obligation calling on us to resolve the immigration issue, and if these imperatives are not enough, it’s also smart politics, as recent electoral cycles have shown.”

The organization noted that “during the past two months, energy and activity have been growing around the need for fair and workable immigration reform.” Numerous advocacy day events at the state and national levels, along with congressional visits, prayer vigils, calls, faxes, emails, town hall meetings, and community forums have all been organized by labor, faith, and local and national groups, the NCLR said.

The NCLR announced that its nearly 300 community-based organizations and several thousand advocates have sent more than 2,700 supportive messages to the Obama administration and Congress, after national news confirmed the president’s commitment to immigration reform in 2009. NCLR’s network has also conducted close to 170 congressional visits in the past two months, the group said.