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

Caribbean American Congresswoman, Yvette D. Clarke

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:

Rep. Ron Kind

Rep. Jim Himes

Rep. Gerald E. Connoly

Rep. Tony Cárdenas

Rep. Xavier Becerra

Rep. Ami Bera

Rep. Earl Blumenauer

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici

Rep. Kathy Castor

Rep. Judy Chu

Rep. David N. Cicilline

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver

Rep. Steve Cohen

Rep. John Conyers, Jr.

Rep. Susan A. Davis

Rep. Suzan K. DelBene

Rep. Ted Deutch

Rep. Lloyd Doggett

Rep. Tammy Duckworth

Rep. Anna G. Eshoo

Rep. Chaka Fattah

Rep. Bill Foster

Rep. Al Green

Rep. Gene Green

Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva

Rep. Alcee L. Hastings

Rep. Michael M. Honda

Rep. Steven A. Horsford

Rep. Jared Huffman

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee

Rep. Hakeem S. Jeffries

Rep. Derek Kilmer

Rep. John Lewis

Rep. Doris O. Matsui

Rep. James P. McGovern

Rep. Gwen Moore

Rep. James P. Moran

Rep. Richard E. Neal

Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton

Rep. Scott H. Peters

Rep. Chellie Pingree

Rep. Mark Pocan

Rep. Mike Quigley

Rep. Tim Ryan

Rep. Linda T. Sánchez

Rep. Loretta Sanchez

Rep. Adam B. Schiff

Rep. Bradley S. Schneider

Rep. Kurt Schrader

Rep. Eric Swalwell

Rep. Mark Takano

Rep. Mike Thompson

Rep. Chriss Van Hollen

Rep. Juan Vargas

Rep. Marc A. Veasey

Rep. Filemon Vela

Rep. Maxine Waters

Rep. Henry A. Waxman

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 6th, 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.