Immigration advocates are pushing for Congress to take action soon on an immigration reform bill, and are emphasizing their message this week to Wisconsin House Republicans.
A national tour bus effort called Fast for Families is teaming up with Wisconsin immigration advocates. On Monday, they visited the office of U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner. On Tuesday, the stop was at a town hall meeting in Franklin, held by Rep. Paul Ryan.
Janesville resident Melissa Sanchez was one of several speakers who asked Ryan to help the immigration reform measure move ahead.
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“When will you lead your party for immigration reform, and will you stand with us or stand on the wrong side of history?” said Sanchez.
Sanchez says she was brought to the United States as a child and attends University of Wisconsin-Rock County legally, through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) order President Barack Obama signed two years ago. Representative Ryan says he supports the young people known as Dreamers, but that the DACA issue is part of a broader fight with the president over executive orders
“So it really isn’t a statement of whether or not we think we should fix this problem with Dreamers,” said Ryan. “We do, and that’s part of the plan. It’s this method that the president went through that we think is extra-constitutional.”
Ryan also says House Republicans are looking to build consensus on other immigration issues, like employer verification, an overhaul of legal immigration, and something that drew applause from many white people in the crowd at Franklin: “Number one is secure the border.”
Ryan says he’s not sure when the immigration package will move forward.
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