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Congressman Garamendi Urges Swift Action in House Following Senate Vote for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

June 27, 2013

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman John Garamendi (D-Fairfield, CA) today called on the House of Representatives leadership to immediately take whatever action is needed to allow the House to vote on comprehensive immigration reform this year.

“The bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the Senate today is far from perfect, but it is a tough compromise that brings us a lot closer to a rational immigration policy in America. I call on House leadership to take the necessary steps to allow an up-or-down vote on comprehensive immigration reform this year,” said Congressman Garamendi.
Garamendi added, “We have a broken and unrealistic immigration system in America today, and that’s why a comprehensive approach is needed. We need to bring our country’s 11 million undocumented workers out of the shadows and create a pathway to earned citizenship. We need to recognize the unique needs of farmers and agricultural workers. We need to keep families together. We need to encourage the immigrant entrepreneurs who create jobs for all Americans. We need to be a welcoming place for the world’s best and brightest minds. We need to aggressively enforce laws that protect wages and workplace safety. We need to improve security along our borders, both land and sea. We need to deport the small group of undocumented immigrants who are violent criminals. We need to recognize that an influx of young immigrants into the Social Security System will help extend its solvency. Above all else, we need to recognize that the status quo is unacceptable. I look forward to forging the bipartisan coalition necessary to make comprehensive immigration reform a reality in America.”
Congressman Garamendi is a 4th generation Basque, Irish, and Italian American whose family came to California during the gold rush and established a successful ranching business. He believes America is at its strongest when it is a welcoming place for hardworking immigrants and when it lives up to its commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Four in ten Fortune 500 companies were founded by first generation immigrants or their children. 44% of Silicon Valley startups founded in the last seven years had at least one key founder who was an immigrant. The Office of the Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration estimated that an earlier version of the Senate bill would create 3.22 million new jobs by 2024 and boost U.S. GDP by an additional 1.63%. They also “anticipate that the net effect of this bill” on the Social Security System “on the long range … will be positive.”
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform bill would reduce the deficit by $157 million over the first decade and by $700 milliion over the next decade.