OFA Volunteers, Labor Leaders, and Business Owners Gathered to Show Support for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

OFA-MN Supporters and Local Community Members are Calling on their Representatives to Make Sure Bipartisan Comprehensive Immigration Reform is Passed

Minneapolis, MN – After Thursday's definitive and historic bipartisan vote for comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate, Organizing for Action volunteers and local community members held grassroots action events across the country thanking the supportive Senators and calling on their Members of Congress to not stand in the way of this movement. Sixty-eight Senators banded together in voting for a commonsense bill that would strengthen border security, crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers, streamline the legal immigration system, and create an earned pathway to citizenship. The CBO confirmed that this bill would grow our economy, create new jobs and reduce our deficit by nearly $1 trillion over the next two decades. 

The Minneapolis event took place at Safari Restaurant, a Somalian restaurant, that has been very supportive of OFA's mission.  Abdirahman Ahmed, co-owner of the restaurant, has been a long time supporter and his venue has held several local political events.  Ahmed told his personal story of immigrating to America 12 years ago and the struggles he encountered; such as working 3 jobs to get by.  Through hard work his business has prospered.  He stressed that "immigrants come to work hard, create jobs, and contribute."  
Graeme Allen, a Community and Political Organizer for the Minneapolis Regional Federation of Labor, thanked the volunteers for "standing up for what is right," and now that the Senate has acted on immigration reform, "the time is now to create a commonsense immigration system that keeps families together and creates a road map to citizenship for those who aspire to be American citizens."  He urged supporters to continue to put pressure on Rep. Erik Paulsen and Rep. Kline and to continue to "stand with President Obama, Sen. Klobuchar, Sen. Franken, and all leaders of goodwill across the political spectrum to do right by 11 million aspiring citizens and make our country and state stronger."

Farhio Khalif, a neighborhood team leader for Organizing for Action and an immigrant from Somalia, shared her personal story and discussed why this issue is important to the Somali community as well.  "Coming to America gave me the opportunity to have freedom, a job, and take care of my two sons.  I came from a country that has been unstable for 22 years.  I was blessed to have Americans open their homes and their hearts to refugees.  I hope that the House of Representatives will move to do the same for those who are here trying to give a better life to their children and to our families in Somalia who we are trying to bring over."  OFA-MN volunteers know their work has just begun. The Senate vote was a great step forward; now it's time to take the fight to the House to make sure they act to pass comprehensive immigration reform that will strengthen the economy and ensure the American Dream for this generation and generations to come.  A similar event took place this afternoon in Duluth, with office visits to Rep. Paulsen and Rep. Kline having already taken place this past Thursday.