Immigrant Communities Appreciate Speech, Disappointed With Follow Through

Statement of Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director, Center for Community

Change

    WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a
 statement of Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director, Center for Community
 Change, on President Bush's State of the Union Address:
     "Tonight, a new Congress will applaud the President's call for
 immigration reform.
     "When President Bush first began challenging the nation to fix
 America's broken immigration system in 2001, a wave of hope swept across
 immigrant communities. But as the years have passed, the President's
 immigration agenda appeared to become smaller and the response from
 Congress became increasingly toxic.
     "In 2006, Congress used 'immigration' to drag our nation through one of
 the most racially divisive political campaigns in recent memory and the
 Bush Administration embarked on a campaign of highly publicized workplace
 raids displacing thousands of families in the name of "getting tough" on
 immigration.
     "Immigrant communities have learned to appreciate the speeches, but we
 have become sorely disappointed in the follow-through. Immigrants and their
 families who tune-in tonight might feel as though they've heard it before.
 The trust that the President once had with immigrant communities is largely
 gone and Congress fares no better.
     "For immigrant communities, actions speak louder than words: humane and
 comprehensive immigration reform can begin to heal the breach.
     "The Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) is the united voice and
 meeting place of the historic grassroots movement which derailed the
 inhumane and unworkable immigration laws pushed by last year's
 Congressional leadership. Next week, nearly 200 grassroots leaders will
 gather in Washington, DC to finalize our immigration campaign plan for the
 year.
     "Millions stand ready to mobilize for justice. While President Bush and
 Congressional leaders have expressed sincere intentions this year,
 immigrant communities are taking nothing for granted. We are preparing to
 work harder than ever to ensure that President Bush lives up to his promise
 and that the new Congress performs differently from the old one."
     The Center for Community Change is a nonprofit, nonpartisan low income
 advocacy group that promotes the development of community organizing as a
 national force for social and economic justice. FIRM (Fair Immigration
 Reform Movement) is a coalition of grassroots community organizations
 nationwide, working on behalf of comprehensive immigration reform and
 immigrant rights and part of the We Are America Alliance.
 
 

SOURCE Center for Community Change