For immediate Release: Press Release

January 4, 2008

For more information contact:

• Joshua Hoyt

Despite the best efforts of some candidates, talk radio hosts, and others to stir up anti-immigrant sentiment in their state, participants in last night’s Iowa presidential caucuses resoundingly rejected the politics of hate. 

Republican voters embraced former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who has spoken sympathetically about undocumented immigrants and stood by his support, while governor, of state financial assistance for undocumented students.  Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney tried to attack these positions for political gain, but came in a distant second to Huckabee.  Iowa Republicans even gave a strong showing to Senator John McCain, who has unswervingly supported real immigration reform that would include a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.  All this took place despite the efforts of groups like the Federation for American Immigration Reform to bring talk radio hosts to Iowa to gin up anti-immigrant hatred.

Even more stunning was the turnout among Iowa Democrats, who outnumbered Republican caucus participants 2-to-1.  By a wide margin, Iowa Democrats supported Senator Barack Obama, who has consistently backed a path to citizenship for the undocumented and spoken of bridging partisan divides to solve our nation’s issues.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) believes it is time to get past the demagoguery and to work for real solutions to our nation’s immigration issues.  We need to fix our broken immigration laws, reunite families, and offer the undocumented an opportunity to earn their way toward legal status.  In poll after poll, the American public has shown its support for such a sensible approach.  It’s time for our political leadership to make this happen.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights is a state wide coalition of over 100 organizations dedicated to promoting the rights of immigrants and refugees to full and equal participation in the civic, cultural, social, and political life of our diverse society.

For more information, visit ICIRR’s website at www.icirr.org or call Catherine Salgado at 312.332.7360 ext. 235