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For Immediate Release
December, 12 2012, 10:40am EDT
Contact:
Beatriz Lopez, Beatriz.lopez@seiu.org, 202-412-7396
Latino Leaders Announce Civic Engagement Campaign to Win Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2013
Groups Pledge to Hold Congress Accountable
WASHINGTON
A new campaign to win congressional enactment of comprehensive immigration reform in 2013 was announced Wednesday by leaders of national Latino civil rights and labor organizations. The groups issued a joint statement calling on President Obama and Congress to act immediately on reforms that will help the economy, workers, and families. Robust civic engagement and congressional accountability campaigns will be waged throughout next year, with report cards on Congress' performance to be issued before the 2014 election. The campaign follows the 2012 election in which a record 12.5 million Latinos voted.
Issuing the joint statement were Janet Murguia, National President and CEO of National Council of La Raza; Eliseo Medina, International Secretary-Treasurer of Service Employees International Union; Brent A. Wilkes, National Executive Director of the League of United Latin American Citizens; Ben Monterroso, National Executive Director of Mi Familia Vota; Maria Teresa Kumar, CEO/President of Voto Latino; Hector Sanchez, Executive Director, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement; Chris Espinosa, National Director of Advocacy of Hispanic Federation; : Max Sevillia, Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs of NALEO Educational Fund. The statement follows:
STATEMENT BY NATIONAL LATINO LEADERS
December 12, 2012
Latino civil rights, community and labor organizations are here to announce our unqualified support for comprehensive immigration reform. We believe our nation's voters sent a clear message to our elected leaders that they expect action on the outstanding issues facing our country, including immigration reform. It is time to fix a broken immigration system that serves no one well -- not business or the economy, not immigrants and our communities. We must seize the moment to finally fix this problem that has eluded us for a generation and that has created so much division and heartache in our nation. The time to act is now.
We fully expect that President Obama will move aggressively on reform early next year, and we call on the House and Senate leadership to bring comprehensive immigration reform to their chambers for action. The president and Congress are at a unique moment in history that commands their leadership on comprehensive immigration reform that comports with our national values and with the will of the voters.
Comprehensive immigration reform must include a clear roadmap to citizenship for hard working, taxpaying immigrants; a system that builds the strength and unity of working people; keeps families together; guarantees the same rights, obligations, basic fairness for all workers, no matter where they come from; and internal and border law enforcement regimen that focuses on preventing criminals, drug cartels and other bad actors from entering the U.S. or engaging in criminal activities.
We are cognizant that a positive, legislative outcome depends on an engaged and informed citizenry. The Latino community and immigrants need access to timely information on congressional action or lack thereof; on citizenship programs and voter registration. Our organizations will continue providing that information and assistance through our successful civic engagement programs.
Our voter education campaigns will monitor the performance of Congress as it debates comprehensive immigration reform. Members of Congress will be rated on how aggressively they championed comprehensive immigration reform or whether they tried to block it. With these report cards, Latinos will be able to determine who deserves their support in the 2014 election cycle.
During the recent election, 12.5 million Latino voters demonstrated their commitment to the electoral process. The Latino voter engagement remains strong and will only continue to grow at or beyond the voter participation rates of recent years. Our organizations will work to ensure that the growth of the Latino vote endures and remains a vital part of our democracy.
We are also deeply concerned about the current debate about taxes and the federal budget. Remember that the Latino community wants to make sure that the economy works for everybody, not just the wealthy. It's time for Congress to come to a fair solution that does not burden the middle class, so that it can deal with other important issues like immigration reform.
Voters have long favored a common sense comprehensive immigration reform that greatly benefits our economy and keeps families together. Congress must pass a bill that the president can sign. Do what's right for our country, for workers and for families.
With 2 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers--not just corporations and CEOs--benefit from today's global economy.
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Progressives Urge Senate Dems to Ditch Tradition That's Allowing GOP to Veto Biden Judges
"Senate Democrats should eliminate every barrier possible" to confirm President Joe Biden's judicial nominees, said Indivisible.
Feb 24, 2023
With Democrats hoping to confirm dozens more federal judges following President Joe Biden's milestone of appointing 100 new members of the judiciary, progressives on Friday said the party has no choice but to eliminate a tradition they say has been exploited by Republicans to block the president's nominees.
Advocacy group Alliance for Justice said Democratic leaders, particularly Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) must make a choice: They can "transform our federal courts by confirming so many more judges with a respect for the rights of all of us," or they can allow Republicans to continue the tradition of using so-called "blue slips" to reject nominees.
The Senate "can't do both," said the group.
Under the blue slip practice, which is not an official Senate rule, senators can unilaterally block federal district court judge nominees from being considered by the committee if the nominee is from their home state. Only if they submit a "blue slip" for the judge can the nomination proceed.
Prior to last year's midterm elections, Durbin said the party has "made it work" and would continue to abide by the blue slip tradition, but earlier this month he said he will no longer honor the withholding of a blue slip if he believes it "discriminates because of race, gender, or sexual discrimination."
Republicans including Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) have protested, with the latter claiming the practice is "essential to the Senate's constitutional obligation to provide advice and consent."
But as NBC News reported this week, Durbin noted Republicans have made clear that they're intentionally using the tradition to block Biden's nominees, submitting only 12 blue slips since Biden took office, compared to the 120 Democrats submitted under the Trump administration.
Also under former President Donald Trump, Republicans in control of the Judiciary Committee at the time did away with the use of blue slips for circuit nominees and as a result rapidly confirmed 54 judges to the circuit court.
Demand Justice noted that under the Obama administration, Republicans blocked 17 judicial nominees using the practice.
\u201cDuring the Obama presidency, Republicans abused blue slips to block a diverse group of 17 highly qualified judicial nominees.\n\nChair Durbin needs to reform the blue slip to keep the same from happening during the Biden presidency.\u201d— Demand Justice (@Demand Justice) 1677180513
American Constitution Society President Russ Feingold, a former Democratic senator,
toldNBC News the Democrats "would be chumps to not get rid of [blue slips] for this Congress, in order to allow them some opportunity to make up for the very aggressive tactics used by Republicans over the prior four years."
"When Republicans had the advantage, they just didn't hesitate to eliminate blue slips for the courts of appeals, which are an even higher court," he said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said he wants his party to top the 234 federal judges the Republicans confirmed in four years. There are currently 72 district court vacancies and nine open seats on appeals courts.
To secure judicial seats, said Meagan Hatcher-Mays, director of democracy policy for Indivisible, Democrats must "be for real" and recognize that the question of whether to continue to allow blue slips is "existential."
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Three weeks after the lives of East Palestine, Ohio residents were upended by a fiery wreck involving a Norfolk Southern-owned train overloaded with hazardous materials, rail union leaders on Friday implored federal regulators and lawmakers to "focus on the primary reasons for the derailment and take immediate action to prevent future disasters."
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One week ago, RWU made the case for nationalization, arguing that the U.S. "can no longer afford private ownership of the railroads; the general welfare demands that they be brought under public ownership."
In the absence of such sweeping transformation, which remains far-off given the current state of the beleaguered U.S. labor movement, the alliance on Friday demanded that federal agencies and Congress move quickly to "rein in" Norfolk Southern and other profit-maximizing rail corporations that have fought regulations, laid off workers, and purchased billions of dollars in stock rather than investing in employees and safety upgrades.
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Almost half of U.S. voters surveyed by progressive think tank Data for Progress blame rail company Norfolk Southern for the February 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio which forced 1,500 residents to evacuate, contaminated soil and water, and has been blamed for causing a number of symptoms even as officials claim air and water monitoring hasn't shown dangerous levels of pollution.
Forty-nine percent of the 1,243 people surveyed by Data for Progress from February 17-22 said they believed Norfolk Southern was responsible for the crash, including 50% of Democrats, 52% of Independents, and 47% of Republicans.
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\u201cNEW POLL: After the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, voters blame train operator Norfolk Southern for the crash and strongly support requiring railroad companies to improve working conditions and upgrade their braking systems.\n\nhttps://t.co/JeTnZ1ugxl\u201d— Data for Progress (@Data for Progress) 1677251896
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