A diverse coalition of Texas leaders collaborated to press officials on
immigration reform.
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**Texans for Immigration Reform**
Good afternoon,

I have spent almost ten years advocating for common-sense immigration
reform in various roles and organizations, always led by my Christian
faith. In my time doing this work, I have observed a growing movement of
support for immigrants and immigration reform across diverse sectors and
political parties. My observations have also been supported by various
polls, like this one
,
indicating a desire from both self-identified Republicans and Democrats
for bipartisan legislative solutions to address our broken immigration
system. Despite these encouraging findings and observations, every year
the work to advocate for common-sense immigration reform becomes more
challenging as the country becomes more divided. This is exacerbated by
heightened rhetoric every election cycle that spreads fear and
misinformation about immigrants and immigration. Part of my challenge as
a regional Bibles, Badges, and Business mobilizer for the National
Immigration Forum is finding ways to combat this negative and hurtful
messaging and bring people together to advocate for just and
compassionate policies.

In the spring of this year, I was diagnosed with cancer. If I was going
to be effective in this work, which I love, I would need to bring more
people in to spearhead our advocacy efforts in the region. So, I reached
out to three friends to see if they would be willing to partner on
organizing and leading in-district legislative meetings across Texas to
speak to elected officials about our concerns and priorities on
immigration issues. To my delight, they agreed and together we grew a
network of twelve state and national organizations to participate in
fourteen meetings with Texas state officials. These meetings included
leaders across the faith, education, and business sectors from
organizations such as World Relief, the American Business Coalition, the
Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education, and The Bush Center, among
others.

These twelve organizations and their leaders collaborated to form a
diverse group of Texas leaders to speak to how the broken immigration
system was impacting each of the congressional districts in the state.
Some new legislators thanked us for providing such a diverse look into
the immigration landscape as leaders provided various perspectives on
how their communities were impacted by immigration and immigration
policies:

* Faith leaders spoke on how immigrants were growing church attendance,
forming active parts of their communities.

* Educators explained how the student population in their districts,
particularly first- or second-generation immigrants, was impacted by
immigration policies.

* Afghan Parolees spoke about the need for the Afghan Adjustment Act
.

* Dreamers spoke about the need for stability

for themselves and their families, pointing to the need for a permanent
solution such as opportunities for citizenship.

* Business sector and Chamber of Commerce leaders spoke to the need for
workers and highlighted the contributions

immigrants make to the local, regional, and national economy.

While I was not able to attend any of the meetings myself, this
experience was one of the most rewarding in my ten years of doing
advocacy work. It was amazing to see all these leaders come together for
the same cause. I understand that achieving comprehensive immigration
reform is a long process, but we cannot let that make us passive. We
need to take action and urge members of Congress to work in a bipartisan
effort to fix what is broken. This is urgent and we must remind our
elected officials of their responsibility to listen to their electors
and work together on immigration issues. I hope you'll join me in
advocating for common-sense bipartisan immigration reform by either
joining an in-district meeting or contacting your congressmembers today
using this easy advocacy tool . It seems
difficult to work towards change on your own, but together, through
efforts like these, it is possible!

Stay committed and hopeful,

Brenda

**Brenda Kirk**
BBB Mobilizer for Texas, Oklahoma & Arkansas
National Immigration Forum 

**NEWS CLIPS TO NOTE:**

****

**POLITICO:**Biden confronts deep skepticism of U.S. agenda in Latin
America

**WASHINGTON EXAMINER:**Senate Republicans unveil border proposal as
condition for Ukraine aid

**NEW YORK TIMES:**Why Illegal Border Crossings Are So High

**CBS NEWS:**Massachusetts announces work authorization clinic for
migrants as shelters near capacity

**NBC NEWS:**Bipartisan bill would provide kids-only immigration courts
for migrant children

 

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