The game is afoot (again!)

What great news to come out of DC this evening and its the news we've all been waiting for - the immigration bill is on its way back to the Senate floor. After the roller coaster ride we were on last week - the cloture vote and the inaccurate media coverage about it, the harsh rhetoric from the small group of hurlers-on-the-ditch and all the rest, this announcement is the gem we've held our collective breath for!

Last week, it was difficult to watch the likes of Senator Sessions stand in the Senate, spewing his particular brand of bigotry and bile and monopolizing the debate. It could have knocked the wind out of our sails for a second. And then, you stop yourself. You remember the vast majority of citizens desire a path to legalization for the undocumented in the country. Opinion poll after opinion poll reflect this fact. It's obvious to anyone who is willing to open their eyes, that the only intelligent, humane and justifiable solution to the immigration debate in this country of immigrants, is comprehensive immigration reform. Burying your head in the sand and hoping the problem goes away is not acceptable to anyone, on any level.

Tonight, the Senate has shown that their eyes are wide open and they are focused on the goal... as we are!!

Read more here.

Immigration Bill Revived in Senate

Details of the immigration compromise remain to be finalized, but top Democratic sources say Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will approve the compromise and move late Thursday to put the bill back on the calendar for Senate consideration in the middle of next week.

"He's going to bless it and he's going to get the Senate back in the business of dealing with immigration," said a source in the Democratic Senate leadership. Read More

HUGE MAJORITY BACK LEGALIZATION PLAN: POLL

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HUGE MAJORITY BACK LEGALIZATION PLAN: POLL

A huge majority of Americans - including nearly two-thirds of Republicans - favor allowing illegal immigrants to become citizens if they pay fines, learn English and meet other requirements, a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found. That is a striking show of support for the bill that has stalled in the Senate amid conservative opposition. READ MORE

CCIR Immigration News Clips: June 13

June 13, 2007

Senators Unmoved by Bush Bid to Save Immigration Bill
Washington Post, United States

An Unappetizing Bill of Fare
Washington Post, United States (Dana Millbank)

Harry Reid's Sham
Washington Post, United States (George F. Will)

The Immigration Debate (Letter from Senator Webb)
Washington Post, United States

Bush Pleads for GOP Immigration Support
Washington Post, United States

Database Becomes Tool in Deportations
Washington Post, United States

Immigration's lost voices
Los Angeles Times, CA

As We See It: Last-ditch plea in immigration compromise
Santa Cruz Sentinel, CA

Revisit immigration reform
Toledo Blade, OH

So close to immigration reform, so fanatically far
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL

More than 165 workers detained after agents raid Portland food plant
Seattle Times, United States

Bush lobbies Senate to revive stalled immigration proposal
Denver Post, CO

McConnell Upbeat After Bush Meeting on Capitol Hill

President George Bush made a rare visit to Capitol Hill today to push for immigration reform.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said there was "good give and take" at the meeting, and sounded optimistic about the bill's chances..."We didn't expect anybody to stand up and holler that they had a epiphany," McConnell said. "I do believe this bill is about 85 percent through, to the finish line."

Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) threw caution to the winds and told the President to back off over immigration. Read More

News Clips from CCIR June 12, 2007

More positive news in today's selection of news clips provided by CCIR. Also, check out today's Letters Page in The New York Times, seven of the eight letters on immigration support comprehensive immigration reform. Given that The New York Times is the voice of the establishment, this can only be good news!!

June 12, 2007

Bush Tries to Save Immigration Reform
TIME

Yearning to Learn Free
Wall Street Journal

Bush, Senators to Meet on Immigration
Washington Post, United States

The System at Work
Washington Post, United States

’86 Law Looms Over Immigration Fight
New York Times, United States

Editorial | Immigration Reform
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA

Immigration seen as paramount problem for US farms
Reuters

Gutierrez a force behind immigration reform
Seattle Post Intelligencer

Republicans say no to Hispanic gathering
Miami Herald, FL

McCain wants to renew immigration fight
Sacramento Bee, USA

Don't give up
Orlando Sentinel, FL

Don't let immigration bill be job America won't do
Chicago Sun-Times, United States

Bay Area residents share stories of dreams, hope to deliver jolt ...
San Jose Mercury News, USA

Good News On Stalled Immigration Bill

Good news all round this morning as The New York Times, CNN, Fox News, Washington Post revisit the immigration debate and find there's plenty of life left in it.

The Times said Democratic Senators were working to bring the bill back and said that Senator John Kyl was running out of patience with some of his colleagues and was "prepared to override their objections if there was not progress soon on an agreement."

Fox, CNN and the Post all reported President Bush's pledge to revive the immigration bill.

"I believe we can get an immigration bill," Bush said. "Now, it's going to require leadership from the Democrat leaders in the Senate, and it's going to require me to stay engaged and work with Republicans who want a bill." President Bush

Bush: 'I'm not giving up on immigration bill'

President Bush is not giving up on his plan to legalize millions of unlawful immigrants and is aiming to convince GOP senators to bring the bill back. Today, Sunday,Tony Snow, White House spokesman, and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez both predicted an immigration bill would pass once Bush meets with lawmakers this week and Congress reconsidered the measure.Full Story

Queens; We're Not Giving Up!

WE'RE NOT GIVING UP! More than 200 people crammed into the Courtyard Bar in Sunnyside in Queens on Saturday night (June 9) to help raise money for the ILIR's continued lobbying efforts in Washington.

The packed crowd cheered ILIR Vice Chairman Ciaran Staunton as he told them to hang on in there. "This Bill is Not Dead", he said. "We're going to Washington this week and thanks to your fundraising efforts tonight, we'll keep going to Washington until we Legalize The Irish!"

The night raised more than $12,000 for the ILIR and several of the organizers and supporters from the Bronx, Yonkers and Connecticut also made the trip to show their support for the ILIR's efforts.

One supporter, reflecting the general sentiment, said: "This is the time to stand up and fight. This bill's not going away and neither are we!"

URGENT APPEAL FROM ILIR - PLEASE CALL SENATOR REID'S OFFICE

Please Call Senator Harry Reid,

Say Thanks For His Hard Work And Ask Him To Bring The Bill Back On The Floor

Call 202 224 3542 And Press #1 For A Staffer Or Press #2 To Leave A Message For Senator Reid

Please Forward To Anyone You Know Who Cares About Immigration Reform

Battle Continues as Immigration Bill Stalls

The Immigration Reform bill has been stalled in the Senate by a procedural vote. This news is clearly a setback but it does not mean that the process itself is dead.

According to Fox News

Despite the fact that it was primarily Republicans who voted against the maneuver, all the GOP lawmakers who spoke with FOX News were upbeat that the legislation could be revived soon — even within a matter of weeks, with one negotiator noting that last year's bill was first pulled from the floor by then-Majority Leader Bill Frist before it was brought back up again and passed.

We always knew this was going to be a tough battle but it's not over yet, far from it.

Dan Balz of the Washington Post called it a "failure of leadership". Click here

ILIR REACTION TO STALLED IMMIGRATION BILL

We're Going To Get It Done: ILIR Chairman Niall O'Dowd
RTE's Morning Ireland Click Here
RTE News At One Click Here

We are disappointed that the bill is no longer on the floor but we are encouraged that both Majority Senate Leader Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have strongly indicated that they intend to bring the bill back and to sort out the remaining issues between them.

We have always known that this would be a very difficult battle but we strongly believe that, as Senator Edward Kennedy stated, there is no alternative but to have a bill passed through the Senate and House this year and to be passed into law by the end of the year.

This is a setback but we do not believe that it means the end of the immigration bill for this year.

Steady as she goes

After another day of wall to wall debate on the comprehensive immigration reform bill, the Senate today displayed great poise and understanding of what this bill must achieve.
For example, rather than approve an amendment proposed this afternoon by Sen. Cornyn, which would have made it next to impossible for the vast majority of undocumented immigrants to change their status, the Senate choose to adopt the alternative amendment, which would increase penalties for those convicted of sex offenses, domestic violence or use of firearms during human smuggling. Read the entire New York Times article here.

May all the Senators continue this debate with the same intelligence and determination that was displayed today.

Queens Night Out for ILIR Saturday June 7

The Queens Chapter of the ILIR will host a fundraiser in The Courtyard on Queens Blvd on Saturday night at 9pm.

Top local bands Krash and Atomic are among the musicians donating their time to what promises to be a great night out.

All funds will go to help the ILIR continue lobbying in Washington. See you there!

Email ilirqueens@gmail.com for more details

Senator Reid Files Cloture on Senate Bill

Cloture Vote Filed

Senator Reid filed cloture on the bill, with a vote scheduled for Thursday evening. This means that a vote to end debate on the immigration bill and amendments to it will take place on Thursday. Sixty votes will be needed. Republicans have objected, saying that there are many more amendments to be offered on their side and that they do not want to have debate cut off.

Late Updates (June 5)

1) Change In Debate Today: Because of the death of Sen. Thomas (R-WY), the immigration debate has been pushed back until 2:15 this afternoon.

2) Change In Timeline: It had been anticipated that debate would wrap up this week. We've now heard that a cloture vote is likely Thursday, but the amendment process is likely to continue through TUE 6/12, with final passage on that day.

3) Add Your Comment! Add your voice and help the voice of the majority of Americans break through! The Washington Post has put up a "chat" on the immigration bill - WEIGH IN! Click Here

June 5 News Clips from CCIR

June 5,2007

Leadership by Evasion
Washington Post, DC

Joined at the Claw
Washington Post, DC

A Point System for Immigrants Incites Passions
New York Times, NY

New Haven Approves Program to Issue Illegal Immigrants IDs
New York Times, NY

Romney backs off stand of registering migrants
San Francisco Chronicle, CA

Remember mistakes from the past when considering immigration reform
Statesman Journal, OR

Two-day DM vigil urges immigration law changes
DesMoinesRegister.com, IA

McCain cites local Marine in immig bill debate
New York Daily News, NY

More than just Latinos wait for immigration law
The News Journal, DE

And they're back!

After their week off, the Senate are back to the debate at full tilt and immigration is back to being the hottest topic in the media.

In the Boston Globe yesterday, there was an interesting article about how the nay-sayers voices grew weaker as the Memorial Day recess progressed and how, in fact, public opinion in favor of comprehensive reform grew louder. There was even another opinion poll published, showing wide public support of immigration reform, this time by the Washington Post/ABC News. Read the entire article here.

This is going to be quite the rollercoaster of a week as we watch the level headed bipartisan coalition continue their great work! (and perhaps we can call and thank them a few more times too!)

McCain keeps the pressure on

Senator John McCain is scheduled to make an important speech in Florida today and is expected to have a very strong message for his fellow Republicans on the topic of immigration reform.
His choice of venue and date for this speech also speaks to his commitment to this bill - the Senate resumes their debate today on immigration after their Memorial Day recess and Florida is home to a huge immigrant population and his fellow Republican and immigration reform supporter, Sen. Mel Martinez.
Read the AP's full report here.

Bush Steps Up, Again!

Today, President Bush, once again, showed his whole hearted support for the bill making its way through the Senate. The President seems to understand that the nation as a whole is looking for positive action by their elected officials on immigration reform and that inaction is not acceptable. Read the full report from the AP here.

And at a press conference today, President Bush's chosen immigration emissaries, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, were both optimistic that the bill will win congressional approval. Read the full article from The Hill here.

I'm sure all the ILIR volunteers phone calls are helping this tide of change! Keep up the good work - even over the weekend! Answering machines are standing by...