Caribbean American Congresswoman MIA From Congressional Immigration Letter To President – A NAN First

By NAN Staff Writer

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Thurs. Oct. 23, 2014: Brooklyn, New York, Caribbean American Congresswoman, Yvette D. Clarke, has consistently insisted she supports immigration reform. She is the daughter of immigrants, her district is home to many immigrants and Clarke used her speech at the recent West Indian American Labor Day Carnival breakfast in Brooklyn, NY to stress her support for the hot button issue and the need for the President to act soon. Yet a letter from several congressmembers in the House Democratic Caucus to President Barack Obama voicing support for executive action on immigration is missing her support.

Clarke’s signature is notably absent from the list of 60 plus Democratic Congressional Representatives who signed on to the letter written by Representatives Jared Polis (D-CO), Joaquin Castro (D-TX), and Joe Garcia (D-FL).

The letter sent earlier this month to President Obama, urged him to address the problems faced by American businesses as he considers executive action to help immigrant families and ensure our borders remain secure.

Polis, Castro and Garcia are co-chairs of the New Democrat Coalition’s Immigration Taskforce and leaders within the House Democratic Caucus on the push for comprehensive immigration reform.

The letter also calls on the President to use his pre-existing, legal authority to foster the ability of high-skilled immigrants, workers and entrepreneurs to contribute to our economy and to improve the immigration system to benefit our country’s innovative capacity and economic growth.

“We agree that the best and most lasting way to fix our immigration system is for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. But despite the broad, bipartisan embrace of comprehensive immigration reform, it is unfortunately clear the Speaker will not move a bill forward this year,” the letter reads in part.

 As the House has failed to act on a comprehensive solution to overhaul the nation’s immigration system, the members asked the President in the letter to use his “clear, pre-existing legal authority to further help American businesses retain high-skilled immigrant graduates, workers, and entrepreneurs.”

“Since the Republican leadership of the House failed to act, we strongly urge you to take appropriate administrative actions to address the urgent problems we face with our immigration system,” added the letter.

The others signing on to the letter are:

1. Rep. Ron Kind
2. Rep. Jim Himes
3. Rep. Gerald E. Connoly
4. Rep. Tony Cárdenas
5. Rep. Xavier Becerra
6. Rep. Ami Bera
7. Rep. Earl Blumenauer
8. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici
9. Rep. Kathy Castor
10. Rep. Judy Chu
11. Rep. David N. Cicilline
12. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver
13. Rep. Steve Cohen
14. Rep. John Conyers, Jr.
15. Rep. Susan A. Davis
16. Rep. Suzan K. DelBene
17. Rep. Ted Deutch
18. Rep. Lloyd Doggett
19. Rep. Tammy Duckworth
20. Rep. Anna G. Eshoo
21. Rep. Chaka Fattah
22. Rep. Bill Foster
23. Rep. Al Green
24. Rep. Gene Green
25. Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva
26. Rep. Alcee L. Hastings
27. Rep. Michael M. Honda
28. Rep. Steven A. Horsford
29. Rep. Jared Huffman
30. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee
31. Rep. Hakeem S. Jeffries
32. Rep. Derek Kilmer
33. Rep. John Lewis
34. Rep. Doris O. Matsui
35. Rep. James P. McGovern
36. Rep. Gwen Moore
37. Rep. James P. Moran
38. Rep. Richard E. Neal
39. Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod
40. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton
41. Rep. Scott H. Peters
42. Rep. Chellie Pingree
43. Rep. Mark Pocan
44. Rep. Mike Quigley
45. Rep. Tim Ryan
46. Rep. Linda T. Sánchez
47. Rep. Loretta Sanchez
48. Rep. Adam B. Schiff
49. Rep. Bradley S. Schneider
50. Rep. Kurt Schrader
51. Rep. Eric Swalwell
52. Rep. Mark Takano
53. Rep. Mike Thompson
54. Rep. Chriss Van Hollen
55. Rep. Juan Vargas
56. Rep. Marc A. Veasey
57. Rep. Filemon Vela
58. Rep. Maxine Waters
59. Rep. Henry A. Waxman
60. Rep. Peter Welch

Congressman Gregory Meeks, whose district is home to many immigrants, also failed to sign the letter as did most of the other members of the New York Congressional delegation except for Brooklyn Congressman Hakeem Jeffries.

Clarke’s office has not responded to a NAN request for comment sent last week on why she did not sign the letter.

Her missing signature comes as she is preparing to be part of the Caribbean Multi-National Business Conference in the Bahamas on November 6^th, the same conference that led to Congressman Charles Rangel being forced to step down as Ways and Means chairman in 2000, when the House ethics committee found him guilty of taking two Caribbean trips paid for by corporate sponsors of the conference.

Karl Rodney, the conference founder, was convicted of one count of making a false statement to the House Ethics Committee in seeking approval for a privately funded trip to the “Carib News Foundation Multi-National Business Conference” in Antigua and Barbuda in November 2007.  He was sentenced on July 22, 2011 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to two years probation and 500 hours of community service but avoided jail time. He was also fined $2,500.