“The very fact that this meeting happened today is a testament to FIRM’s 15-year project of building the power of our movement and the power of family stories,” said Melissa McGuire-Maniau, one of the family members present in the meeting.

McGuire-Maniau is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force from Winter Park, Florida. Her family lived in constant fear because ICE repeatedly came to her front door, threatening to deport her husband.

“One simple knock on the door can tear our family apart. This feeling of powerlessness is common to all of us,” she told reporters in a press conference following the meeting. “By joining this movement to keep families together, we have been able to turn that fear into real power.”

“The President seemed visibly moved by our stories and pledged to keep working on immigration reform,” said McGuire-Maniau, affiliated with the Florida Immigrant Coalition, a FIRM member.

At the meeting, the President reiterated his commitment to passing a bipartisan, commonsense immigration reform bill this year. And he underscored that the stories he heard today are a good reminder that immigration isn’t just a policy issue, but it is about families and communities. The President encouraged the families to continue sharing their stories.

Diana Colin, an activist and graduate of Cal State Fullerton from Los Angeles, also spoke with the president, telling him her story of living as a Legal Permanent Resident with two undocumented parents.

“From the tragedy of families being ripped apart to the triumph of overcoming incredible obstacles, we told just a few of the millions of stories that are the real moral and political case for immigration reform,” said Colin, affiliated with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, a FIRM member.

The other people at the meeting were: Kevin Lee of Los Angeles, affiliated with the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium; Mehdi Mahraoui, affliated with the New York Immigrant Coalition; Angie Kim, also with the New York Immigrant Coalition; Miguel Leal with the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition; and Justino Mora with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.

FIRM Calls on Senate to Confirm Perez as New U.S. Secretary of Labor

(WASHINGTON)—The Fair Immigration Reform Movement today praised the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for approving the nomination of Tom Perez to serve as the new U.S. Secretary of Labor.

“Tom has spent his entire career as a public servant fighting to make sure that the rights of all Americans are protected and enforced,” said Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director of the Center for Community Change. “As the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Tom’s story of hard work and a desire to serve his country are inspirations to everyone.”

After a brief morning session, the Senate panel voted 12-10 to approve Perez’s nomination, which now heads to the full Senate. Perez is currently head of the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department.

“As a highly qualified leader within the Latino community and beyond, we urge the full Senate to confirm Tom so that he can move into this important position without further delay,” Bhargava said. “The President’s Cabinet should reflect the diversity of America. And Tom Perez has proven that he will make an excellent Labor Secretary.”

###

Families Say Heritage Study Will Not Stop Immigration Reform

(WASHINGTON)—Immigrant families delivered 5,000 pink slips today to the Heritage Foundation calling on its president, Jim DeMint, to resign after embracing racist, anti-immigrant leaders while making the case against immigration – all while unveiling a faulty anti-immigration study that has been widely denounced, even among experts within the conservative community.

The Center for Community Change is calling for the resignation of DeMint. DeMint is someone who has a history of recklessly opposing immigration reform at all cost – even if it means buttressing his arguments on faulty research from racist thinkers. Heritage has also been an outspoken opponent of any type of legislation that would provide a path to citizenship to the 11 million undocumented immigrants in our country.  Families who are part of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), of which the Center is a member, took part in today’s action.

“Under DeMint’s watch, the Foundation has released a widely criticized ‘economic study’ about the cost of immigration reform that was disturbingly anti-immigrant and openly hostile to immigrant families,” said Kica Matos, the Center for Community Change’s Director of Immigrant Rights and Racial Justice. “The Center for Community Change has issued an online petition calling for DeMint’s resignation that has garnered approximately 6,600 signatures in less than a week.  By promoting theories of racial inferiority, Jim DeMint has earned his pink slip.”

Erendira Rendon of Chicago, one of the FIRM group members who is in Washington this week to attend the Senate Judiciary Committee’s markup sessions, said the Heritage report and DeMint’s endorsement of it show that conservatives are willing to go to any lengths to stop immigration reform.

“In the report against immigration reform, the Foundation uses faulty numbers, and it also relied on research from white supremacists,” Rendon said. “This was an appalling failure of leadership. And it is disappointing to see the Heritage Foundation take up offensive and racist rhetoric rather than take the path other Republicans are forging toward achieving immigration reform.”

###