In the News

While House Republicans have been adamant that immigration reform is all but dead this year, a coalition of women’s groups is hoping to revive the issue, wrapping it into the “war on women” offensive.

Arguing that women and children bear the brunt of the burden from a broken system, and that women will be decisive in the 2014 and 2016 elections, organizers said that Republicans should reconsider their approach to immigration reform.

“Unless we actually have action from House leadership, from Speaker Boehner, to move a bill forward so that the majority of his members in his House can actually vote to move this bill forward, we will continue to push and push and make sure that women voters in November understand who has blocked immigration reform,” Pramila Jayapal, chair of We Belong Together, which advocates for immigration reform, said Wednesday during a conference call with reporters.

Jaypal said that the timeline for reform can’t be dictated by a small group of people, and that the lack of GOP action will have a political cost for the party as it tries rebrand its image and appeal to a more diverse pool of voters.

“If the Republican leadership really looks at the cost of not moving immigration reform forward…the cost for their leadership in Congress, they will start to understand that the lack of action is continuing to play into a frame that already exists,” she said.

Congresswomen Suzan DelBene (D-WA) and Judy Chu (D-CA) have joined the push.

“We know that when women come together and stand up for legislation, something can get done, even in this dysfunctional Congress,” DelBene said, citing the work around the Violence Against Women’s Act.

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