Mediaboss Marketing

A leading potential successor to House Speaker John Boehner comes from a district with a significant Latino constituency, raising hope among Latino activists that he may do more than the Ohio Republican did to push for comprehensive immigration reform.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, represents a region that is 35 percent Latino and, as his website notes, is one of the nations largest agricultural districts.

McCarthy, who is 50 and the House majority leader since last year, has said that he supports giving undocumented immigrants a path to legal status, although not full-blown citizenship.

McCarthy said that his support for an opportunity to allow some undocumented immigrants to legalize their status was not tantamount to being in favor of amnesty, or rewarding people who break the law.

If you want to become a citizen, you'll have to go through the path, he said. There won't be amnesty inside it.

He said to reporters last year that he backed giving those who qualify legal status that will allow you to work and pay your taxes.

He added that the path to legal status was a decision that every Republican will have to make.

On McCarthy's official website, however, in the section on his views on immigration, he makes no mention of a path to legal status, and speaks only about the need for tough enforcement.

"As a nation founded by immigrants, we should continue to embrace the individuals who wait in line and come to the United States legally to work hard and contribute to our society," McCarthy says on the website. "However, we should not provide any amnesty that would benefit those who defy our laws and enter the United States illegally...we must secure our border by using both physical as well as electronic barriers."

Many activists pushing for a path to legal status for the undocumented said they are glad to see Boehner step aside, faulting him for refusing to use his powerful position to advance a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

In 2013, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill to overhaul immigration. The bill called for tightening security at the border and providing ways for undocumented immigrants who meet a strict set of criteria to legalize their status, among other things. But the effort stalled in the House, where many conservatives vowed never to pass a measure that, in their words, rewarded those who had broken immigration laws.

Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), an immigrant rights organization, said he had hoped Boehner would rein in his party but was unable to do so.

With Mr. Boehner out of the picture 2016 provides an opportunity to bring back civility to the GOP and an extremely divided Congress," she said in a written statement. As to speculation that California's conservative Kevin McCarthy might be considered as the next Speaker, we would call on him to represent the richness of our state's diversity."

In a statement that followed Boehners unexpected announcement Friday that he was resigning the speaker post by the end of October, McCarthy said: Now is the time for our conference to focus on healing and unifying to face the challenges ahead and always do what is best for the American people.

Boehner all but endorsedMcCarthyon Friday.

"I'll tell Kevin, if he's the next speaker, that his number-one responsibility is to protect the institution. Nobody else around here has an obligation like that," Boehner told reporters. "Secondly, I'd tell him the same thing I've just told you. You just do the right thing every day for the right reasons, the right things will happen."

Chris Pawelski, an upstate New York onion farmer who is a vocal advocate for immigration reform, particularly a more efficient guest worker program, expressed mixed feelings about the Boehners decision.

Im saddened by Speaker Boehners resignation as Speaker and from the House, Pawelski said in a statement to Fox News Latino. I found him to be the voice of moderation and reason, dealing with a very difficult caucus and governing situation.

Pawelski is somewhat encouraged by McCarthys support for immigration reform, but feels it may not be enough to bring about positive changes.

Though McCarthys district has a large number of Latinos and is heavily agricultural I find it hard to believe that the forces that drove Boehner out will allow any sort of immigration reform legislation to go to the House floor.

McCarthy has many views that fall in line with GOP conservatives he opposes President Obama's Affordable Care Act, gun control, and climate change measures.

Some conservatives, however, are leery of McCarthy, accusing him of being more of an "establishment Republican" than not. On Friday, conservative talk radio host and best-selling author Mark Levin warned Republicans in Washington not to replace Boehner with McCarthy, who, he concluded, is not a "principled conservative."

Some Republicans say they prefer that immigration be dealt with in a piecemeal fashion, instead of one sweeping measure.

Some groups expressed hope that as one of his last acts as speaker, Boehner would put comprehensive immigration reform on the House radar.

Speaker Boehner would do well to use his last month in office to heed the words of his church, the business community, and the great majority of Americans, Rep. Bill Foster, an Illinois Democrat said, to take bold and courageous action by bringing comprehensive immigration reform up for a vote.

He has the opportunity to transform his legacy from one of constant partisan gamesmanship and gridlock, to one of cooperation and progress that benefits all Americans. If he chooses this path, he will find no shortage of bipartisan support and cooperation from Congressional Democrats.

Includes reporting by The Associated Press.

Elizabeth Llorente can be reached at elizabeth.llorente@foxnewslatino.com. Follow her on https://twitter.com/Liz_Llorente

Like us on FacebookFollow us on Twitter & Instagram

Original post:
Immigration activists hope Boehner's possible successor ...

COLUMBIA Jose Antonio Vargas is calling for major immigration change on a national level, and he's including MU. It's the incremental progressions that really count, he said during his speech Thursday night in Jesse Hall.

The nationally recognized filmmaker and immigration activist has put himself at the forefront of the immigration-reform movement by launching campaigns, speaking to crowds and attending political events. On Thursday, he made his way to Jesse Hall to speak about his journey and what it means to fight his battle.

Vargas came to America when he was 12 years old. He grew up here, went toschool here, attended college here and has worked as a journalist here with nationally recognized publications.

But his life in America was an undocumented one, and that took a toll on him, he said Thursday. So about five years ago, he said he decided to "liberate himself from his own fears."

"Against the advice of about 27 lawyers, I wrote in journalistic detail everything I had to do to stay here in this country as an undocumented immigrant," he said. "And then I waited."

"I heard from Stephen Colbert and Bill O'Reilly but nothing from the government."

Vargas said he knows his public declaration was a taunt: "Come and get me." But so far, no one has.

"I spent my entire 20s and teenage years being so scared of this government," he said. "Now I find that maybe they're even more scared of me than I am of them."

That fear Vargas talked about is what he said drove his decision to stop living under the burden of his own identity and to create an unavoidable obstacle in the way of America's immigration avoidance.

Vargas said he's forcing difficult conversations about immigration and revealing that undocumented Americans are within the country and a part of it.

"More than ever, we need you to be allies," Vargas told the crowd.

"If we don't acknowledge that respect is not something that is happening here on our campus on a daily basis, we cannot get past that," Head said. "There are so many students, like myself, who are uncomfortable on this campus every single day."

"Those of us with privilege have to speak up," Head said.

In bridging the conversations about immigration and racism, both Head and Vargas said people must engage outsiders in the conversation or nothing will ever change Americans must preach beyond the choir.

Original post:
Immigration reform activist Vargas calls for allies at MU ...

Sen. Marco Rubio, elaborating on his immigration stance, says he still supports comprehensive reform, but believes it will have to be accomplished through individual bills instead of a larger legislative package.

I still believe we need to do immigration reform, Rubio said on Fox News Sunday. The problem is we cant do it in one big piece of legislation - the votes arent there.

Story Continued Below

One of many Republicans eyeing the GOP presidential nomination, the Florida senator said he has not changed his stance on the need to address who the country allows to become citizens, but believes Americans want reassurances from the federal government that illegal immigration will be halted before addressing reform.

The first thing we are going to do is prove to the American people that future illegal immigration is under control, he said.

Rubio was also asked by Fox host Chris Wallace about George W. Bushs decision to invade Iraq in 2003, which has become a bit of a hot potato for Republican hopefuls after Jeb Bush said last week he would have invaded given todays knowledge of the situation, then spent several days backtracking.

Rubio attempted to differentiate between the decision President Bush made at the time, when intelligence reports claimed there were weapons of mass destruction, and whether he believes the Iraq War was a good decision today.

It was not a mistake for the president to go into Iraq, based on the information he was provided as president, Rubio said. Weve learned subsequently that the information was wrong.

Now, Rubio said, he believes Iraq and the world are better off without Saddam Hussein.

Originally posted here:
Politico: Rubio still favors piece-by-piece immigration reform

Threatened and harassed by local gangs after their mother died, 23-year-old Rocio Martinez fled from Honduras with two sisters in search of a safer place to call home.

But she said she encountered a new kind of fear when she arrived in New Orleans two years ago as she began the underground life of an undocumented immigrant constantly worried about deportation.

Martinez has come out of the shadows to share her story. She is part of a group of 100 immigrant woman from around the country in the midst of a 100-mile walk from Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C., in attempt to humanize the contentious debate over immigration reform in the United States.

"I hope this sends a message to all people who don't know what it likes to be an immigrant," Martinez said.

They timed their 100 Women 100 Mile pilgrimage organized by the group We Belong Together to coincide with the much-anticipated trip of Pope Francis to several U.S. cities this week. They are trying to echo his call for countries to have more compassion for and open arms to immigrants. The first pope from Latin America is expected to make it a major point during his visit.

"This is about positively echoing the pope's moral message on immigration," said Rosie Brown, a 25-year-old who has helped coordinate the walk.

The women started their journey at a detention center in York, Pa., where many undocumented immigrants end up as they await deportation hearings. They plan to arrive at the White House on Tuesday.

They wore T-shirts with the message "dignity for immigrants" and sang spiritual songs in Spanish as they walked. One donned the shoes she wore across the border. Another pushed her daughter in a stroller. The women walk 9 to 14 miles a day, taking breaks along the way and staying the night in hotels, hostels or churches.

On Saturday the fifth day of their 10-day trek the women ambled from Goucher College in Towson, heading down Dulaney Valley and York roads until they reached downtown Baltimore. Residents in an apartment complex blew kisses and shouted support. Cars honked in solidarity.

Local community groups, including the immigrant advocacy group CASA and students from the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Fells Point, joined the women for the Baltimore leg of the trip.

Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, a community organizer with CASA, said she frequently hears stories of families split or worried about getting separated because of deportation.

"We are here to support these woman because what they have experienced we hear about everyday," she said.

The woman get sweaty and tired in the day's heat. Many have developed blisters. But they keep on moving.

"We have a lot of hope," said Maria Morales, who came to the United States 25 years ago from Mexico and now lives in Oakland, Calif. "That is what keeps us going."

Rosario Reyes thought about the son she left behind in El Salvador, whom she hasn't seen since she came to the United States to join her husband in 2004. She lives undocumented in Gaithersburg, where she works as a nanny.

"I have a dream to one day have my family back together," she said.

Martinez was taken into custody and jailed almost immediately after arriving in New Orleans and sat behind bars for nearly two months. She now works cleaning houses, but awaits a deportation hearing scheduled for February. She worries she will be sent back to her homeland. Her sisters already face deportation after court hearings didn't go their way.

Her dream is to go to college and become a dentist. Perhaps, she hopes, the pope will hear her cries and somehow make it easier to reach that milestone.

amcdaniels@baltsun.com

Twitter.com/ankwalker

See the original post here:
One hundred women are walking 100 miles for immigration ...

California Republicans are taking a different tack on undocumented immigrants, softening the party's language to appeal to more voters. The language adopted Saturday does not eliminate the party's opposition to "amnesty" for those in the United States illegally, but it does recognize that Republicans hold diverse views on what to do with the millions of otherwise law-abiding folks who are currently here illegally, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The policy change eliminates a platform plankthat states: Allowing illegal immigrants to remain in California undermines respect for the law.

Immigration has been a major issue in GOP presidential campaign circlesever since Donald Trump launched his campaign and alleged Mexico purposely sends rapists and other criminals across the border. Both those for and against immigration agree the country's current system is broken.

Efforts in Congress to reform U.S. immigration policy have gone nowhere for years despite bipartisan legislation, including the so-called DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) that would have instituted a multiphase process to grant conditional residency to undocumented immigrants who grew up in the United States.

Lack of congressional action pushed President Barack Obama in 2014 to issue a number of executive orders to reduce the number of deportations for about half the more than 11 million immigrants in the country without permission.

Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson (second from right) is confronted by pro-immigration protesters in New York, May 7, 2015. Getty Images/Spencer Platt

Pew Research indicated about half the undocumented immigrants are from Mexico, though their numbers are declining. Sixty percent of undocumented immigrants live in six states -- California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Illinois, but the population is growing elsewhere, including in Florida, Idaho, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Pew said undocumented immigrants make up 5.1 percent of the labor force, the highest proportions in Nevada (10 percent), California (9 percent), Texas (9 percent) and New Jersey (8 percent), and 7 percent of the elementary and secondary school population.

Read the original:
Immigration Reform 2015: California Republicans Soften ...