For Immediate Release: June 24, 2013 Contact: Blair FitzGibbon, 202-503-6141

Largest Online Latino Advocacy Group Opposes Immigration Bill

Bill Will Increase Death and Destruction in Immigrant Life through Increased Militarization of the Border

In response to the very disturbing new proposals contained in the Corker-Hoeven Amendment to the Senate Bill S.744, Presente.org announces our opposition to the bill.

As advocates for immigrant rights, we cannot, in good conscience, lend our credibility and support to a bill that will not

legalize 11 million people and leave millions out of a pathway to citizenship, a promise that has been the foundation for our support to begin with. At the same time, we cannot support a bill that is also guaranteed to increase death and destruction in immigrant life through increased militarization of the border.

Recent reports, including a study of the legislation by the Congressional Budget Office, make clear that, as designed, S. 744 will deny the possibility of securing citizenship and legal status to many. Millions of immigrants will be left vulnerable and in fear of deportation for the rest of their lives. At a time when FBI reports and other statistics affirm that the border has been and continues to be safe, legislation that will increase the number of Border
Patrol agents by

20,000 further endangers our communities. And, when we consider that $40 billion for border security will be allocated over the next 10 years, when there has been no justice in cases involving Border Patrol agents known to have abused their authority and even kill with impunity, S. 744 will turn the southern border of the United States into a permanent war zone. Opinion polls and our common moral sense tell us that this is not the Immigration reform Latinos voted for.

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SVREP is a national. nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to the political empowerment of Latino communities through the use of some of the most powerful tools of American democracy: voter registration, voter education and voter participation, SVREP's work continues to have a dramatic impact and is a major reason for the increase in Latino Voters from 2.2 million to 13.7 million between 1974 and today. SVREP has been hugely successful training over 150,000 community activists in 25 states, informing Latinos on issues and rights, as well as registering 2.5 million voters.

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