Last fall, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Right’s (ICIRR) documented an indisputable trend: When the Bush administration hiked citizenship fees in 2007, applications fielded by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services plummeted. At the time, ICIRR executive director Josh Hoyt cited the restrictive policy as yet another example of how flawed government policies discouraged hard-working immigrants from living the American dream.

Now, Illinois’ own Rep. Jan Schakowsky is joining the coalition in saying enough is enough. The North Side Congresswoman has appealed personally to President Obama with a letter requesting that he roll back the fees to pre-2007 rates at least until the government sets a “new more appropriate figure.”

Standing center stage as ICIRR ramped up it’s “One Nation, One Dream” campaign for comprehensive immigration reform in Chicago last Friday, Schakowsky made it clear her support won’t stop there. Indeed, there is new leadership in DC and the odds for getting a path to citizenship on the Congressional agenda have improved. “We want to have the change happen now and I want to march through with you,” she said.

Recently we reported on Rep. Luis Gutierrez’ nationwide tour to highlight the struggles faced by so many immigrant families as they're broken up by raids and deportations. This Saturday, March 21, he'll be returning to Chicago to hold a rally for federal immigration reform at Our Lady of Mercy Chuch in Albany Park.

The One Nation campaign also includes a local agenda here in Illinois. For starters, Hoyt says they’re out to kill a series of anti-immigrant bills that we recently detailed. They’ll also be lobbying in Springfield on April 2 to ensure immigrant human services organizations receive federal stimulus funds to be used for retooling job skills, expanding foreclosure protection, and increasing access to health care.