Immigration reform lobbying intensifies

As lawmakers in Harrisburg and Washington savor what's left of the summer recess, proponents of state and federal immigration reform are intensifying lobbying efforts.

On Wednesday, union members, immigrants, and faith leaders will hold a "speak-out" at Los Patrillos Taqueria in Norristown, followed by visits to the local offices of U.S. Reps. Pat Meehan (R., Pa.) in Blue Bell and Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.) in Trappe.

Activists will present data released Tuesday by the American Action Network, a center-right nonprofit, which contends the immigration overhaul passed by the Senate in June would create 13,033 jobs in Gerlach's district and 12,416 in Meehan's over the next decade. Critics say those numbers are high.

With Pennsylvania unemployment "hovering at 7.5 percent," said a release from the SEIU 32BJ union, supporters want the House "to move forward with a bill to create jobs by providing a path to citizenship."

The House is expected to take up immigration when Congress returns Sept. 9.

Some observers say the jobs data could provide cover for Republican lawmakers considering support of change.

But opponents, including Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), say the jobs the bill creates would go to new immigrants on work visas rather than native-born Americans.

"We don't have a shortage of workers," he said this month. "We have a shortage of jobs."

Also Wednesday, supporters of the Pennsylvania Dream Act, which would allow discounted in-state college tuition for Pennsylvanians regardless of immigration status, will gather at the South Philadelphia office of Juntos, a Latino-immigrant support group, to launch a campaign designed to bring attention to the bill. It was introduced in January by Sen. Lloyd Smucker (R., Lancaster) and assigned to the Education Committee, where it awaits action.

Participants in Juntos' #Free2Dream campaign will be photographed wearing white ribbons across their mouths. Each ribbon will have the participant's "dream" or current career written in red to show, organizers say, "how the inability to access higher education is silencing a whole community."

The photos will be uploaded to Tumblr, shared on social media, and sent directly to representatives.

"I am undocumented," said Juntos youth leader Karla Rojas, 19, "and not afraid to fight for my dreams."