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Immigration

Everyone agrees that our immigration system is broken, and that it has been broken for decades.  It does not work for American families or businesses.

In his second inaugural address, President Obama recognized that when this country has faced great challenges, we have always come together to find solutions that hold true to our core values and fundamental ideals.

The need to reform our broken immigration system is just such a challenge.  The need to bring millions of undocumented immigrants out of the shadows and onto a path to citizenship and to protect families from being torn apart is one of the most pressing civil rights issues we face today.

We all know the basic building blocks of any comprehensive immigration reform bill.  They have not changed in years.  The five key elements of any reform bill are:

  • improved efforts to further secure our borders;
  • the establishment of a mandatory electronic employment eligibility verification system for all employers—a reform that must be handled carefully and can only be accomplished as part of a broad legalization effort;
  • the ability for undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows through an earned path to permanent residency and eventual citizenship;
  • reform of our employment-based immigration system by expanding high-skilled visas and creating lower-skilled temporary worker programs to meet economic needs; and
  • reform of our family-based immigration system to more quickly reunify close family members.

All five of these components are necessary not only because without them we do not have a bipartisan solution to this terrible problem.  All five are necessary because we cannot truly fix our broken immigration system if we do not fix the whole system from top to bottom.  We need to build an immigration system for the 21st century that works so well for businesses and families that people will be encouraged to go through our immigration system, rather than around it.

 
 

Letters Opposing H.R. 3009,  the "Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act"

 

Letters and Other Documents Opposing H.R. 1153,  the "Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act of 2015"

Letters and Other Documents Opposing H.R. 1147,  the "Legal Workforce Act"

Letters and Other Documents Opposing H.R. 1149, the "Protection of Children Act"

Letters and Other Documents Opposing H.R. 1148, "Michael Davis, Jr. in Honor of State and Local Law Enforcement Act"

 

Letters and Other Documents Opposing H.R. 5759, an Anti-Immigrant Measure Proposed by House Republicans

Letters and Other Documents Opposing the SAFE Act

More on Immigration

Feb 11, 2016 Press Release

“Today’s hearing focuses on the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. When Congress established the program in 1990, the intention was to create jobs for American citizens and to bring new investment capital to the United States.

Jan 22, 2016 Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today U.S. Representatives John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee released the following statements after the Departments of Homeland Security and State announced yesterday implementation of the Visa Waiver Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015:

Jan 19, 2016 Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today U.S. Representatives John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee, released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will review the Texas-led challenge (U.S. V.

Dec 11, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Reps. John Conyers (D-MI), Dan Kildee (D-MI), Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), joined by 29 Members of Congress, issued a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (R-NV) asking them to consider possible improvements to the House-passed version of H.R. 158, the Visa Waiver Program Improvement Act of 2015. The letter was signed by Members who voted for and against H.R. 158.

Dec 8, 2015 Press Release

“Mr. Speaker, as much as any member in this body, I appreciate the unique situation our Nation is in as we struggle to effectively combat terrorism, while adhering to our Nation’s commitment to freedom and liberty. 

“I fully recognize and appreciate that the visa waiver bill before us today represents an effort to craft a more bipartisan response to recent terrorist incidents, particularly when compared to the seriously flawed refugee bill that this body voted on several weeks ago. 

Nov 20, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON– Today, U.S. Representatives John Conyers, Jr.

Nov 19, 2015 Press Release

“Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4038, the so-called ‘American SAFE Act,’ purports to make us safer.

“But, as the Administration correctly observes, this measure ‘would provide no meaningful additional security for the American people.’

“Worse yet, it would effectively deny refugee status for Syrians and Iraqis who are themselves victims of terrorism in their homelands. 

“H.R. 4038 is a terribly flawed and inhumane bill for many reasons.           

Nov 19, 2015 Press Release

“This hearing, which focuses on the Syrian refugee crisis and its impact on the security of our Nation’s Refugee Admissions Program, has the potential to shed meaningful light on critical issues of interest to all Americans.

Nov 17, 2015 Press Release

Washington, D.C. – Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13) issued the following statement in response to various calls to suspend efforts to accept Syrian refugees:

Nov 10, 2015 Press Release

U.S. Representatives John Conyers, Jr.(D-Mich.), Ranking Member on the House Judiciary Committee, and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Ranking Member on the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee, delivered the following statement today after the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion Monday evening upholding a Texas district court ruling against Department of Homeland Security immigration directives issued in November 2014.