Immigration

From:dschwerin@hrcoffice.com To: john.podesta@gmail.com CC: Jake.Sullivan@gmail.com Date: 2014-10-30 12:28 Subject: Immigration

John, hoping to get some quick advice from you on immigration. HRC is campaigning for Anthony Brown in Maryland this afternoon and we had suggested she use this opportunity of praising the progressive record in Maryland - including a DREAM Act - to restate her support for comprehensive immigration reform and say that she looks forward to the President taking executive action and doing all he can under the law. Full text we proposed is below. HRC's instinct is to cut this back, express support for DREAM and CIR but not get into the issue of EA. Her cuts are in brackets below. Do you have any thoughts on this? Thanks Dan [I was so proud to see] the O'Malley-Brown Administration pass the DREAM Act here in Maryland, opening doors of opportunity to students who work and study hard [and play by the rules], regardless of their parents' immigration status. As a Senator, I was a co-sponsor of the national DREAM Act, and I remain a strong supporter of comprehensive immigration reform -- so I'm glad that Maryland is leading [where Washington is lagging]. Because there's so much more to do if we're going to fix our broken immigration system - if we're going to keep families together, treat everyone with dignity and compassion, uphold the rule of law, and respect our heritage as a nation of immigrants striving to build a better life. Bringing millions of hard-working people out of the shadows and into the formal economy -- so they can hold their heads high, pay taxes, and contribute to our shared prosperity -- is one of the most effective steps we can take to accelerate our economic recovery. It also reflects the best values of an open and inclusive nation. [The thought of families being torn apart... of fathers and mothers who have been here for years and contributed to their communities in so many ways, getting picked up and whisked away... children coming home from school to an empty house and nobody can say where their parent is - that is just not who we are as Americans.] [Like so many others, I'm looking forward to President Obama taking action where Congress has failed, to do all he can within the law to reform and improve our immigration system.] [But with Washington bogged down by gridlock and grandstanding, we're also looking more and more to states like Maryland as the laboratories of democracy. Under Anthony Brown's leadership, you can be confident that Maryland will stay at the forefront.]