CONTACT:
Ori Korin
ori@jwj.org or 202-393-1044 x126
Washington, D.C. – Following the announcement of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s launch of a discharge petition to force a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on H.R. 15, Jobs With Justice executive director Sarita Gupta issued this statement:
“Workers, families, faith and community leaders, and the majority of Americans have raised their voices to demand comprehensive immigration reform. The Senate listened and voted on a bipartisan basis to pass such legislation nearly nine months ago. And yet, Speaker Boehner, Leader Cantor, and the Republican House leadership still refuse to allow a vote on a broad immigration reform package. Leader Pelosi and Congressman Garcia should be commended for enabling their House colleagues to bring comprehensive immigration reform legislation to the floor for a vote.
Members of Congress who have said that our immigration system is broken and in need of a far-reaching solution must now do more than just talk. Each day that Speaker Boehner and House Republicans are able to put off a vote on immigration reform is another day that families are needlessly torn apart and standards for all workers are lowered. Cases of bad employers using the broken immigration system to retaliate against workers blowing the whistle on labor abuses continue to mount, and mothers and fathers who have done nothing more than ask that employers respect their basic workplace rights continue to be deported. We can’t wait any longer for Republican House leadership to act.”
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