Guest Column

"REAL ID" and Ag Jobs Update and One More Call to Action: Take Action!

Sent by NCLR

One More Chance to Defeat the "REAL ID Act"

Thank you for all of your efforts in recent weeks in contacting Congress to help our immigrant community. As you have seen, there has been activity that affects us all in many important ways.

What happened with “REAL ID” and where do we go from here?

The Senate has passed its version of the appropriations bill to fund our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and to aid Tsunami victims. This bill did NOT include the “REAL ID Act” because Senator Isakson did not have the votes in the Senate to pass this as an amendment.

The House of Representatives previously passed a different version of the appropriations bill (to fund troops and aid Tsunami victims) which included the “REAL ID Act.”

Now, members of both the House and the Senate must meet in conference committee to come up with a compromise bill, and there is a chance that the conferees will NOT remove the language included in the “REAL ID Act.” That is why your voice is crucial and why this fight is not over.

Take Action

The message is simple: Keep “REAL ID” out of the appropriations bill. This bill will hurt our community and will not make us safer.

1. Please contact your senator if he or she is on the Appropriations Committee. Click here to see who is on that committee: http://appropriations.senate.gov/members/members.htm 

2. Please contact the White House by calling (202) 456-1111.

What happened with “AgJOBS”?

“AgJOBS” was introduced by Senator Craig as an amendment to the appropriations bill. Because of rules of procedure, the Senate needed 60 votes to include it in its version of the bill; only 55 votes were achieved. Many senators preferred not to include “AgJOBS” and other immigration amendments in the appropriations bill. We appreciate all the work that folks around the country did on this very important legislation; the struggle for justice for farmworkers is not over.

For more information, contact Flavia Jimenez at fjimenez@nclr.org