Lawmakers plan immigration tour
Posted By richards on July 18, 2013
The House hasnt been able to solve the immigration issue while in Washington, so a bipartisan group of lawmakers is hitting the road.
Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) is among those planning to visit New York later this month on a three-day trip of immigration-focused events as part of the Becoming America tour, which is meant to spotlight the historical and personal aspects of immigration.
The lawmakers will attend events on Ellis Island and at the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the African Burial Ground National Monument, according to an itinerary of the trip. Leaders will speak at a naturalization ceremony, and the group will also have a breakfast meeting at Gracie Mansion with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a key advocate of immigration reform.
The Becoming America tour isnt meant to hash out the nitty-gritty of legislation or debate the politics of specific immigration policies. But lawmakers hope it will be a small step forward in Congresss effort to enact immigration reform.
It helps us to be removed from Washington and not be in the limelight of all that happens inside the Beltway, Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), one of the tour leaders, said in an interview Wednesday. It gives us a chance to get outside, and what better place to go than New York City, symbolic of immigration for our country? Its the epicenter of immigration.
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Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) is another leader of the tour, which runs July 25-27. Carlos Gutierrez, who served as commerce secretary under former President George W. Bush, is among the more than 100 political and community figures who will participate.
I think it does give us an opportunity for those members for those of us who are going to spend some time together, to get to know each other better, Diaz-Balart said. And thats helpful. Thats always helpful.
Cantor is scheduled to speak at a keynote event in Jackson Heights, Queens, located in Crowleys district. It is among the most ethnically diverse districts in the United States 11.4 percent of its residents are black, 16.5 percent are Asian and 46.9 percent are Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
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Lawmakers plan immigration tour
