Skip to main content

Pallone: House Must Pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform and Stop GOP Delays

July 16, 2013

Long Branch, NJ – On Monday evening, July 15, 2013 Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. called for the House to pass comprehensive immigration reform at an immigration forum in Freehold, New Jersey designed to provide residents with an update on the Senate passed bipartisan comprehensive immigration legislation, S. 744 Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. Republicans have resisted bringing the Senate bill up for a vote in the House since the measure passed last month by a vote of 68-32.

“Speaker Boehner’s unwillingness to take up the bipartisan Senate bill is unfortunately just one more indication of how extreme and obstructionist the Republican Party has become,” said Pallone. “We are a nation of immigrants, but our immigration system is undeniably broken. The Senate bill takes the right approach and addresses the issue on a on a comprehensive scale by helping the 11 million undocumented workers that are here, living in the shadows with no path to citizenship.”

The immigration forum was sponsored by the Latino Coalition in collaboration with Casa Freehold and the Latino Action Network. Frank Argote-Freyre, Director of the Latino Coalition has called the Senate bill, “the most important piece of legislation being considered by Congress in this term.”

“Comprehensive immigration reform is not just an issue about immigrants, it’s also about the economy,” added Pallone. “The studies are clear: comprehensive immigration will create jobs and grow our economy, but instead of working in a bipartisan manner, Speaker Boehner and Tea Party Republicans have, time and time again, catered to the extreme wing of his party that is openly hostile to immigration.”

Issues:Immigration