Jeff Joseph Participates in AILA's National Day of Action

Senior Partner, Jeff Joseph returned from Washington D.C. on April 17^th after having visited Congressional offices for 8 out of the 9 Congressional representatives for the State of Colorado. Representative Scott Tipton declined requests for a visit.

The visit included personal meetings with Representative DeGette and Representative Buck and meetings with the immigration staffers from the other offices.  The purpose of the meetings was to make the case for a much-needed overhaul of the nation’s immigration system.

“As part of the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s National Day of Action, I advocated on Capitol Hill for real reform to America’s broken immigration system.  I visited both House and Senate offices to educate and inform members of Congress and their staff about what inaction means for our communities and my clients.  I was glad to take part in this unique opportunity to join with colleagues, clients, coalition partners, and other AILA members, to ask Congress to advance concrete proposals that will fix our dysfunctional immigration system.”  Jeff said.

“In each meeting, I laid out the facts regarding immigrants in Colorado and the critical function they play in all sectors of the Colorado economy from resort workers, to dairy farms, from high tech companies to universities, from research to oil and gas.  The need for these workers increases every year because our nation has failed to find a workable solution to the problems faced by immigrants, businesses, employers, and state and local governments.  I also reminded Congress people that while border security is important, our border keeps illegal immigrants locked in the country as well as out of the country and that border security must be coupled with a legal immigration system that replaces the illegal flow of immigration with a sensible legal channel for workers to enter the United States to fill vacuums in our economy.”  Jeff continued.

“We saw the Senate step up in 2013 with S. 7444, and we’ve heard from members on both sides of the aisle about reform being necessary, so now is the time.  We need a bill that includes a roadmap to lawful permanent resident status for those currently undocumented living and working in the U.S., and major reforms to the legal immigration system to help businesses to grow, families to reunite and bring fairness and due process to immigration enforcement.  While I finished the Hill visits for this trip, my work will not be complete until a comprehensive immigration reform bill is signed by the President.”  Jeff concluded.

In addition to his lobby efforts, Jeff also appeared on a “Hot Topics Open Forum” panel with Riah Ramlogan, Acting Principal Legal Advisor for Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security and Philip Miller, Assistant Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

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