Have you heard about this? A big coalition of over 300 organizations, including the major labor unions, have teamed up to put pressure on Congress to (finally) fix the immigration system this year: www.reformimmigrationforamerica.org

President Obama pledged to pass comprehensive immigration reform during his campaign (http://www.barackobama.com/issues/immigration/), so with this coordinated effort, there's a real chance of it actually getting passed in 2009.

That said, the anti-immigration set is *very* loud and organized. That's why I sent a fax to my reps in Congress. There is a form to send a fax for free at www.reformimmigrationforamerica.org. Obama and Congress need to know that when the time comes to stand up for what's right, their supporters are going to be just as loud and organized.

Hope you'll consider sending a free fax, too.

Thanks.

P.S. Here's some more background on the issue:

American-born workers suffer if there is a vast pool of undocumented workers who are easily exploited by employers who seek unfair advantage. All of us are stronger if all of us have rights.

Untargeted raids in workplaces and neighborhoods and rogue enforcement agents at all levels are terrorizing immigrant workers and dividing families without making us any safer and without fixing the real problems with our immigration system.

Our out-of-date laws force many American families to remain separated for years – and in some cases, decades – because of backlogs and barriers to family unification in our immigration system.

Finally, our outdated laws are practically unenforceable, driving too much immigration into the black market and not enough immigration through legal and orderly channels for immigrants who want to work in this country.

The result is hundreds of thousands of immigrants being detained each year, hundreds of thousands deported, people forced to take life-threatening risks because they cannot enter legally, people dying in the desert, and people dying in detention due to awful conditions and official neglect.

We can and must do better.