Wednesday, August 3, 2016

From Politico:

The pro-immigration advocacy group led by Michael Bloomberg is already shifting its focus to 2017, with a new campaign launching Wednesday focused largely on making the economic case for overhauling the immigration system and giving cover to GOP lawmakers on the issue.

The Partnership for a New American Economy, headed by the former New York City mayor and News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, is calling the new initiative “Reason for Reform” and will flood all 50 states Wednesday with pro-reform events and detailed economic reports tailored to each state. The group is also pushing a new digital crowdsourcing effort to collect stories of how immigration has affected residents in all 435 congressional districts.

The new project is the most elaborate yet from the Bloomberg-led group, underscoring that immigration reform — should it occur next year — will be a fiercely contested legislative fight. Pro-reform forces are determined to start early trying to persuade Republicans, well before a new president is elected.

"Together, those stories and the data make a compelling case: not only do Americans want immigration reform, our economy needs it,” said the group’s chairman, John Feinblatt. Also involved in Wednesday’s new campaign are companies including Intel, Pinterest and Google; as well as groups that have long advocated for an immigration overhaul, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Western Growers Association, the American Farm Bureau and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

It also indicates the level of optimism among advocacy groups pushing for immigration reform that a new president and Congress can make headway on the issue — despite significant rifts between the two parties on immigration that’s reflected in each of the presidential nominees, as well as a deeply divided Capitol Hill. Read more....

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https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2016/08/bloomberg-and-murdoch-team-for-immigration-reform.html