U.S. Representatives Seek Community Support

An estimated 5 million children who are U.S. citizens has had a parent detained, waiting deportation or deported by U.S. ICE

By H. Nelson Goodson
March 22, 2009

Milwaukee- Both U.S. Representatives Gwen Moore (D-WI) and Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) on Sunday, March 22, 2009 were at the South side St. Adalbert’s Catholic Church, in 1900 block of W. Becher St. seeking support for immigration reform to keep families together. The national listening tour focuses in taking testimony from families affected by a parent or parents who were detained, waiting deportation or have already been deported. The Gutierrez listening tour was scheduled for 17 major cities and have added three more cities. Religious members of the Milwaukee Inner City Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH) sponsored the event for Milwaukee. The group is composed of 50 local faith and religious leaders who decided to form the Family Unity Committee of Wisconsin in support of Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
Gutierrez told parishioners and members of the Milwaukee Latino community attending the event that other members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) have held similar meetings and the tour is expected to end on April 4 in Philadelphia. The CHC members met with President Barack Obama two weeks ago, and explained to the President that an estimated 5 million children who are U.S. citizens have a parent who has been deported, is awaiting deportation or is threatened by deportation, Gutierrez said. Rep. Gutierrez delivered to the President more than 5,500 petitions signed by US citizens appealing to their President and elected officials for immigration reform that keeps families together, according to Gutierrez's Washington office.
The South side of Milwaukee became the 12th stop for the Gutierrez tour, and is well known as a Hispanic predominately area. In the Summer of 2006, Latinos locally and throughout the nation came together in unity to organize, create a network, Latinos and non-Latinos marched in the millions for immigration reform, and formed a Hispanic voting block that helped Democrats to become the majority in both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Two years later on November 4, 2008, Latinos were a determining block in electing the first African-American U.S. President Barack Obama (D-IL).
After the Democrats took control of the U.S. Congress, a Comprehensive Immigration bill was introduced six months later, but it was short lived when Congress failed to act on it. The bill died on the floor.
Since then, Latinos have been disappointment with the lack of support by numerous U.S. Representatives and Senators for not addressing and introducing another Immigration Reform bill. These Democrats were elected to address and finally resolve the immigration reform issue. They have yet to stand up in a unified effort to actually introduce another immigration reform bill. Did they forget that Latinos actually were the determining voting block that elected them to become the majority in both houses, in 2006, and helped elect a Democrat for President on Nov. 4th, 2008? Get to work Democrats!