WRLN (Florida)
By Nina Agrawal
June 3, 2015
The
Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday on a resolution
to support executive action on immigration. Last week, a federal appeals
court decided not to
overturn an order halting President Obama’s program, which would have
deferred deportation for undocumented immigrants who arrived here as
children, and their parents.
Local
immigration activists are continuing to push for executive action while
planning for the election season ahead. Francesca Menes is policy and
advocacy coordinator
for the Florida Immigrant Coalition. She says the fight for executive
action isn’t ending.
“We’re
gonna continue to fight for comprehensive immigration reform, but we
know that our communities need relief now,” Menes says.
Menes'
group has been pushing local and state leaders, like the County Board
of Commissioners, to support executive action and urge Florida Attorney
General Pam Bondi
to remove Florida from the list of states supporting the lawsuit
against the president’s program.
Immigrant
advocacy groups are also looking ahead to 2016. Ali Noorani is
executive director of the National Immigration Forum, which has a
program in Miami.
“I
think over the next eighteen months, there are two opportunities for
the immigrant community,” says Noorani. “One, is to flex their political
muscle. This is a state
that will swing based on new American voters. The second piece is
holding policymakers and candidates alike accountable for how they are
addressing and respecting the undocumented immigrant community.”
Both
the Forum and the Coalition are focusing efforts on getting more
immigrants to become citizens. Noorani says this will not only influence
the outcome of the election,
but it will also impact the economy.
“For
a person to take that final step and achieve that American dream of
frankly becoming an American citizen, means that they are increasing
their earnings potential
and they’re increasing their spending potential, which is good for
businesses across the board,” he says.
For
that reason, the National Immigration Forum is spending the bulk of its
efforts on naturalizing immigrants and integrating them into the
workforce.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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