Grassley now leading anti-immigrant charge

Grassley Leads Effort to Derail Immigration Reform After Filing 77 Amendments Designed to Kill The Bill

Grassley’s stance puts Hawkeye State in the national spotlight but runs counter to basic Iowa values Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is now the leading national opponent to comprehensive immigration reform after filing 77 amendments that would obstruct the path to citizenship, break families apart, limit freedom of movement, restrict visas for refugees seeking asylum, infringe on the independence of judges and the courts, and prioritize border security before citizenship.One of Grassley’s amendments would prohibit immigrants from returning to the United States after traveling home for a family emergency.  Another could lead to more broken families and more deportations by limiting judicial discretion when deciding individual enforcement cases.  A third amendment proposed by Grassley would allow federal officials to racially profile visa applicants.Grassley is the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which began debate on the “mark-up” phase of the bill today in Washington DC.  Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI) members say Grassley’s mean-spirited stance to kill just immigration reform runs counter to basic Iowa values and gives the state a black eye.“Senator Grassley should be ashamed of himself.  This is real people’s lives we are talking about here.  The kind of people Iowans see everyday in our churches and grocery stores, at work, at the movies; these are our neighbors that we invite over for dinner,” said Nataly Espinoza, an Iowa CCI member from Des Moines. “We will fight tooth and nail to win stronger comprehensive immigration reform that ends deportations and harsh enforcement, protects workers rights, and puts a clear and realistic path to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented people ahead of border control.”In the last eight weeks, Iowa CCI members have held a series of informational meetings with hundreds of immigrants and allies in communities across the state of Iowa, delivered letters to congressional offices, held conference calls and other meetings with congressional staff, and traveled to Washington DC to attend public immigration hearings and to meet personally with Senator Grassley. Espinoza and her 11-year old daughter, Michelle Herrera, told Grassley in his DC office in April that, “Immigrants are not terrorists.”Iowa CCI members will hold a mass meeting on May 30 at 6:30pm at the Polk County Central Senior Center on the corner of Forest Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd in Des Moines.  The meeting will feature Sulma Arias from Sunflower Community Action – a Kansas-based community power organization - and is expected to draw more than one hundred latinos and immigrant allies.