With the presidential election over, and a record 12.5 million Latino voters turning out at the polls, a group of Latino organizations Wednesday announced a collaborative campaign to push for one goal: comprehensive immigration reform in 2013.
“The bottom line is that Latino voters went to the polls with the economy on their minds, but immigration reform in their hearts,” said Janet Murguia, the president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza.
While religious and civil rights organizations have tried to make the moral case for immigration reform in the past, it’s a political and economic issue, she said.
“The status quo is about to the change and the election results presented President Obama and the Congress with a moment in history to finally get it right,” she said.
She and representatives of other Latino organizations speaking at a telephone conference from Washington, D.C., said part of the campaign will include producing a scorecard to rate the president and members of Congress with a “pass or fail” grade on their support for comprehensive immigration.
“We want to make sure that our community is informed and that no member of Congress’ stance on immigration reform escapes our community,” said Brent A. Wilkes, the national executive director of League of United Latin American Citizens.
The campaign will include a grassroots campaign for voters to contact members of Congress, a letter writing campaign, petitions, TV spots, billboards, social media, along with local events and efforts