NLC President Pushes for Comprehensive Reform of Broken Immigration System

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National League of Cities (NLC) President Marie Lopez Rogers, mayor of Avondale, AZ, attended the President's immigration speech today in Las Vegas and released the following statement in response:

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"It was an honor and privilege to hear the President's important words today on immigration. NLC fully supports the President's leadership on this issue and will work in tandem with the Administration to support bold action in pursuing comprehensive immigration reform in the coming weeks and months.

"As the granddaughter of immigrants, this is a deeply personal issue for me. And as a Mayor, after witnessing for so many years how immigration touches the lives of our residents, the issue has become even more personal and the need for action more urgent.  City leaders throughout the U.S. witness the tragedies brought every day by a fragmented, divisive system: families torn apart, forced to live underground and unable to receive the basic care and services they need. The current policies are broken and together we must find a way to change our system in a fair, reasonable and inclusive manner.

"Far too often the burdens of this broken system fall on local governments, and failure to act on this issue is increasingly detrimental to the livelihood of our cities and towns.  Comprehensive immigration reform will provide municipal leaders the critical support necessary to integrate immigrants into our communities, and allow them to contribute both economically and culturally to our wonderful, diverse nation.

"NLC believes a comprehensive solution must include eliminating illegal border entry, increasing enforcement of visa overstays, strengthening the worksite enforcement capacity, supporting a process to allow undocumented immigrants currently living in the US to earn legalized status and providing local governments with financial and technical assistance to alleviate the local impact of new immigrants."

For the full text of our National Municipal Policy on immigration, please visit:  http://www.nlc.org/Documents/Influence%20Federal%20Policy/nlc-immigration-resolution.pdf.

The National League of Cities is dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities. NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages, representing more than 218 million Americans.

www.nlc.org

SOURCE National League of Cities