Attorney Gigi Gardner of the Carolinas Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) is back from Washington, D.C. after having visited Congressional offices to make the case for a much-needed overhaul of the nation's immigration system.
As part of AILA's National Day of Action, I advocated on Capitol Hill for real reform to America's broken immigration system. We visited both House and Senate offices to educate and inform Members of Congress and their staff about what inaction means for our communities. I was glad to take part in this unique opportunity to join with colleagues, clients, coalition partners, and other AILA members, to ask Congress to advance concrete proposals that will fix our dysfunctional immigration system.
On April 16, I visited the offices of Senator Thom Tillis, Representative David Rouzer, Representative Mark Meadows, Representative Robert Pittenger, and Representative Virginia Fox. In each meeting I laid out the facts regarding immigrants and our community, and the continued need I see each and every day because our nation has failed to find a workable solution to the problems faced by immigrants, businesses, employers, and state and local governments.
Despite lack of action thus far this year, I believe there is a real chance that a bill can be enacted. We saw the Senate step up in 2013 with S. 744, and we've heard from members on both sides of the aisle about reform being necessary, so now is the time. We need a bill that includes major reforms to the legal immigration system to help businesses to grow, families to reunite and bring fairness and due process to immigration enforcement.