New support emerges for US immigration reform

A swathe of new support groups are emerging in favour US immigration reforms as lawmakers get ready to put forward their bipartisan proposals during the next few weeks.

The first to declare their support was the National Federation of Republican Women, (NFRW), whose representative announced on Tuesday that a resolution had been passed urging Republicans to take the lead in the reform effort. The resolution also stressed that sensible suggestions should be put forward as order to repair of the country’s broken immigration system.

NFRW’s regional vice president Lisa Roper stressed in a press release that border security and enforcement needed to be a crucial part of the reforms. She added that the federation recognised the positive effects of immigration reform in helping US businesses grow and the effect on millions of children growing up in the USA who would otherwise lose out as adults.

The Center for American Progress recently hosted a panel drawn from the LGBT community in support of immigration reform. A recent report estimates that currently over 250,000 of about 11 million illegals in the USA are gay. The Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Jose Vargas stated that it was not necessary to be gay to care about issues affecting the gay community.

Vargas is the founder of the pro-immigration group Define America, and believes that it’s not necessary to be an undocumented immigrant to care about the issues. The journalist has spent the last several weeks touring America speaking about his personal experiences as an undocumented, gay person.