When pro-immigrant groups found out that the immigration reform proposal in the Senate had stalled, they immediately adopted a new strategy that would urge Congress to pass a reform that includes citizenship. The group also called a press conference.

The goal now is to pressure the House of Representatives to assume a leadership role and continue the process. The groups plan to push the representatives for reform, support community groups to keep the immigrant population from getting discouraged, and call and write to legislators.

José Calderón, vice president of programs at the Hispanic Federation, confirms that they will also try to get Congress to approve “a few points in the immigration reform that have the most consensus, like the DREAM Act.” [Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act]

Gloria, a single mother from Puebla, Mexico, who has four children and cleans houses, asked for time off from her job along with other immigrants to participate in a press conference that took place on June 28 at the New York Immigration Coalition, an organization of 200 pro-immigrant organizations.

“I am angry so I came to demand immigration reform. Now is when President Bush and the legislators need to act,” Gloria said.

Along with Gloria, representatives came from diverse groups like the Hispanic Federation, Salvadoran American National Network (SANN), Chinese Progressive Association, Latin American Integration Center, Make the Road by Walking, New York State Youth Leadership Council, and UNITE HERE, among others.

“The reform is not dead, and we are going to keep fighting,” said Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition. “The reality for the 12 million undocumented immigrants continues to be the same.”

Guillermo Chacón, an organizer with SANN, demanded that President George Bush declare a moratorium on raids and deportations, grant work authorization to undocumented immigrants, and sign an executive order to continue the immigration reform process.

Evelyn Erskine, a spokesperson for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who supported the reform, declared that, “Though he didn’t think it was perfect, if he had the chance to vote on it, he would have voted in favor.”

New York Senator Hillary Clinton said that she was going to keep fighting for “comprehensive immigration reform.”

Walter Sinche, of the New York May 1 Coalition, expressed satisfaction at the rejection of amendments that were “more focused on corporate interests than humanitarian ones.”