AILA Welcomes President Obama’s Commitment to Immigration Reform

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, March12, 2010
CONTACT:
George Tzamaras
202-507-7649
gtzamaras@aila.org

WASHINGTON, DC - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) welcomed President Obama's announcement that his commitment to comprehensive immigration reform is unwavering and that he would proceed with an overhaul of the immigration system this year if he could attract necessary Republican support. After meeting with Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, and Senator Lindsey Graham Republican of South Carolina yesterday afternoon, the President stated that he will continue to be their partner in trying to move forward a proposal to fix our broken immigration system. "AILA is heartened to learn that the President is fully committed to pass immigration reform," said Bernie Wolfsdorf, President of AILA. "As it stands now, the country's immigration problem severely undermines our national interests by slowing economic growth, forestalling family unification, and subverting strategic foreign policy objectives."

AILA believes any effective, long-term solution to the immigration problem must: 1) require the undocumented population to come out of the shadows and earn legal status; 2) ensure that American businesses are able to hire the workers they need to help grow our economy while protecting U.S. workers from unfair competition; 3) reduce the unreasonable and counterproductive backlogs in family-based and employment-based immigration by reforming the permanent immigration system; and 4) protect our national security and the rule of law while preserving and restoring fundamental principles of due process and equal protection.

"AILA hopes that yesterday's meeting serves as a springboard to a renewed bipartisan effort and emphasis on solving America's broken immigration system. We recognize that there are other challenges currently facing our nation's leaders, such as healthcare, and for comprehensive immigration reform to move forward the President and Congress need to provide a more specific plan that will gain the support of the public and AILA looks forward to reviewing that plan," Wolfsdorf added.

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The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.

Cite as AILA Doc. No. 10031562.