The Department of Justice’s announcement today that the Administration will file suit against Arizona's immigration law, SB 1070, is a victory for equality and justice. It is an important win for those of us who have been actively fighting this overreaching bill since its passage on April 23. It is also a win for civil and human rights.
But the battle is not over, let alone the war. While the President sent a clear message today that SB 1070 is not the way to address immigration reform or border issues, we are still in dire need of leadership from Congress on a comprehensive approach to reform that recognizes the economic and social realities of immigration, creates an earned path to citizenship and sets up immigration as a twenty-first century success story, instead of a political football.
We've been struggling with an untenable status quo for too many years now. It's time to fix our broken immigration system. The Obama Administration’s legal challenge on SB 1070 has put the immigration issue squarely back where it belongs—in the halls of Congress. The time has come for Democrats and Republicans to unite and fix our broken immigration system once and for all. The Senate must follow the House’s lead and turn its immigration proposal into legislative action.
Please join me in calling on Congress to pass meaningful legislation that prioritizes civil rights and realistic solutions, not digging trenches and pointing guns at the border, as some would suggest we do. Click here to sign my petition in support of comprehensive reform.