Claudia N.
Houston, TX
I migrated to the U.S. with my parents in 1986. We were lucky to have had the opportunity to enter the U.S ...
In 2013, the Senate passed a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill that would have strengthened our communities, our economy, and our country's future. Representatives from both sides of the aisle have voiced their support for comprehensive immigration reform, and Americans across the country haven’t wavered. And yet, House Speaker John Boehner and House leadership refused to even bring the bill up for a vote.
That's why President Obama is taking action where he can to help fix our broken immigration system, strengthen our economy, and protect our communities and families.
The President's executive actions will give parents of American citizens or legal resident children who have lived in the U.S. for more than five years relief from deportation if they register with the government, undergo background checks, and pay taxes. It will also allow immigration enforcement officials to focus resources on deporting felons, not families.
These actions to help reform our immigration system will strengthen our country, grow our economy by up to $210 billion in ten years, and could shrink the federal deficit by up to $25 billion over the next decade.
But the President can only do so much on his own. Only Congress can finish the job and fix our broken immigration system in a permanent, meaningful way.
OFA refuses to sit back and let comprehensive immigration reform be kept on Congress's back burner. That’s why volunteers are turning up the heat—they're calling on key members of Congress to pass a comprehensive solution.
Comprehensive immigration reform would provide undocumented immigrants with a legal way to earn citizenship. It requires that everyone play by the same rules, including passing a background check, and paying taxes and a penalty.
Reform would make our immigration system easier and more efficient—providing visas to foreign entrepreneurs looking to start businesses here, helping the most promising foreign graduate students stay in this country after graduation, and reuniting families.
Reform would give law enforcement the tools they need to make our communities safer from crime, enhance our infrastructure and technology, and strengthen our ability to address threats to our national security.
Reform would stop businesses from exploiting the system by knowingly hiring undocumented workers. Employers would have a reliable way to verify that their employees are here legally, and everyone would be required to play by the same set of rules.
Leadership in the House of Representatives won't act on reform unless their members know they’re being held accountable—and OFA volunteers are working hard, across the country, to make sure that they do. This is a critical moment.
OFA has identified members of Congress who have every reason to help get this done—in fact, some have already come out in favor of comprehensive reform.
The OFA Dream Team is working hard to make the urgent need for a comprehensive solution real for these representatives so that they drive House leadership to act. The Dream Team consists of hundreds of volunteers across the country who are working to educate and mobilize their communities to keep the pressure on the Members of Congress who need to feel it most.
Join the teamWe're not where we need to be on the issue—here's why.
Two years ago today, the Senate passed a comprehensive (and bipartisan) bill to fix our broken immigration system.
Working with OFA helped her realize the power of we.
Tell House leadership to put an end to payback politics.
I’m glad the President refused to wait any longer.