CO Congress Talks Immigration

As was reported earlier, a local coalition is currently touring Washington D.C. in an effort to speak with Colorado Congressional members about federal immigration reform.

The action was coordinated with the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and the American Friends Service Committee, and so far delegates have reached out to five lawmakers, with one making a personal appearance. “We’re members of his district, and so he was very cordial to meet with us,” says Tom Acker with the Western Colorado Justice for Immigrants Coalition.

Acker arrived in D.C. on Saturday, and later met with Congressman John Salazar in person to discuss comprehensive immigration reform.

“He spoke about the issues confronting passage of that legislation and specifically asked for suggestions about what we thought could be done with some of the proposals that more conservative members of Congress are making,” Acker says.

Rep. Salazar reportedly said in the meeting that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi would like to see through immigration reform out of Congress by early July.

Along with John Salazar, members of the coalition also met with assistants for Sens. Ken Salazar and Wayne Allard, along with aids for Reps. Diana DeGette and Ed Perlmutter.

Issues discussed included keeping families united and putting an end to unnecessary ICE raids, creating a way towards citizenship, and creating temporary working visas.

Erin Rosa was born in Spain and raised in Colorado Springs. She is a freelance writer currently living in Denver. Rosa's work has been featured in a variety of news outlets including the Huffington Post, Democracy Now!, and the Rocky Mountain Chronicle, an alternative-weekly in Northern Colorado where she worked as a columnist covering the state legislature. Rosa has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for her reporting on lobbying and woman's health issues. She was also tapped with a rare honorable mention award by the Newspaper Guild-CWA's David S. Barr Award in 2008--only the second such honor conferred in its nine-year history--for her investigative series covering the federal government's Supermax prison in the state. Rosa covers the labor community, corrections, immigration and government transparency matters. She can be reached at erosa@www.coloradoindependent.com.