Immigration Backers Once Again Head To Washington

Immigration advocates from Wisconsin are again headed to Washington, D.C., in hopes of keeping a federal immigration bill moving forward.

A U.S. Senate committee this week voted to send the immigration bill to the Senate floor, but some senators want major changes in the measure. House approval remains uncertain, so immigrants’ rights groups are again sending delegations to lobby lawmakers. Fourteen-year-old Salvador Rojas of Milwaukee is traveling in one of two vans from Wisconsin, which are due on Capitol Hill Thursday morning. Rojas says his dad is undocumented and could be deported unless the federal legislation keeps families together and offers a path to citizenship. Rojas says if the effort fails, he may have to leave the U.S., too, just as he starts high school.

“I would feel as if the American dream was over for me, just at the age of 14. I don’t think I would get a good education: as good as the one here.”

Rojas and the others driving to Washington hope to meet with Wisconsin Republicans: Sen. Ron Johnson, Rep. Paul Ryan, Rep. Reid Ribble and Rep. Sean Duffy.