White House Meeting: Delay is a Mistake, but not a Setback

June 12, 2009

Washington, DC – A meeting the President was slated to have Wednesday (June 17) at the White House with a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders on immigration reform has been delayed.  The following is a statement by Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, speaking on behalf of the Reform Immigration FOR America campaign, a recently launched national campaign to get comprehensive immigration reform passed this year.

We think delaying the meeting is a mistake.  Momentum is building for comprehensive immigration reform with more and more Americans demanding solutions.  The President is too smart not to move on immigration reform this year.  We don’t see this as a signal that President Obama is stepping back from reform.

All the lights are green, with strong polling support for reform that helps strengthen the economy; hundreds of thousands of calls and faxes into Congressional offices generated by the campaign last week and more are expected next week; and both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying the debate on comprehensive immigration reform is coming soon.

Reform that gets immigrants here illegally into the system and on the books, gets workers and employers all playing by the same set of rules, and reestablishes a legal immigration system that works so that people will use it – that is a winning political and policy proposition.  Americans want their leaders in Washington to solve tough problems and immigration is no exception.

We fully expect the President’s strong leadership.  Congress needs to act and delaying the White House meeting doesn’t change that.

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For more information on the Reform Immigration FOR America Campaign, please visit www.reformimmigrationforamerica.org or www.reformamigratoriaproamerica.org