USW Statement on Senate Vote for Immigration Modernization

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers (USW) today praised the U.S. Senate for taking an important step toward improving the broken immigration system in the United States by passing the 'Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act,' (S.744).

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"The USW is disappointed that key aspects of this bill were weakened during the amendment process," said Leo W. Gerard, USW International President. But he adds: "It's important to keep the momentum going on comprehensive immigration reform.

"Now the House must act. We call on its members to pass improvements that protect the rights of American and foreign-born workers while ensuring an inclusive and just path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants."

Fred Redmond, USW International Vice President for Human Affairs, who has been mobilizing support for a comprehensive new federal act said, "The USW will continue to join with our allies for immigration reform that includes the key elements of the labor movement's platform: A path to citizenship; a data driven-approach to employment-based immigration; improvement, not expansion of guest worker programs; sensible and humane border security measures; and the protection of all workers' rights."

Redmond, who serves on the AFL-CIO Executive Council, advocates: "Common sense immigration reform will grow our economy and make our entire nation stronger, which will mean a brighter future for all of us."

A breakdown of today's Senate vote confirms all 100 senators voted with a final count: 64-32. According to the USW Legislative Dept., the affirmative votes included 52 Democrats and 14 Republicans. All of the opposition votes were by Republicans.

Contact:   Gary Hubbard,  202-256-8125, ghubbard@usw.org;

Wayne Ranick, 412-562-2444; wranick@usw.org

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)