Washington, DC—NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, today urged the administration to continue working toward immigration solutions and expressed optimism about the administration’s recent maneuvers to ensure comprehensive immigration reform. NCLR’s comments followed today’s White House meeting, hosted by Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), during which approximately 100 leaders from faith, business, labor, community and law enforcement sectors met to discuss potential elements of immigration reform legislation.
“Today’s meeting was a needed step on the road to fulfilling the promise of comprehensive immigration reform made to millions of voters, with both President Obama and Secretary Napolitano unambiguously stating their commitment to see this issue addressed” said Clarissa Martínez De Castro, NCLR Director of Immigration and National Campaigns. “And we had an opportunity to communicate that this is a step that needs to be accompanied by other actions, including greater accountability in the oversight, implementation, and decision to continue programs that have led to abuse and rights violations in Latino and immigrant communities, as well as concrete action to deliver legislation that will truly restore dignity and balance to our broken immigration system.
“Just as the president and secretary promised to examine current practices and hold agencies accountable, so will the Latino community lend its support for reform and hold the administration and Congress accountable for moving forward on an issue the vast majority of Americans support. Immigration reform is morally imperative, politically smart, and urgently needed—inaction is simply not an option,” Martínez De Castro concluded.
