LeeAnn Hall’s Statement on Executive Action for Immigration

For Immediate Release

November 20, 2014
Contact: Kathy Mulady,
Communications director
(206) 992-8787

Statement from LeeAnn Hall, executive director of the Alliance for a Just Society, regarding President Obama’s announcement on executive action for immigration:

“This is a great step forward for everyone in our country,” said LeeAnn Hall, executive director of the Alliance for a Just Society. “Now Congress needs to step up to enact real bipartisan immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people in the country, and that respects the dignity of all immigrants in the United States.”

The Alliance for a Just Society released numbers this week showing that non-citizens have significantly less access to jobs that pay enough to make basic ends meet, leaving them more likely to live in poverty and unable to fully participate in their local economy.While nearly two-thirds of citizens working full-time earn $15 or more, only one-third of non-citizens earn this much. That is 63 percent of citizens compared to 38 percent of non-citizens.

“The president’s action takes us a step closer to reducing the economic racism which is at the heart of the immigration issue,” said Hall.