Democrats tell Republicans: ‘Walk the walk’ on immigration reform

In their latest efforts to push for immigration reform, House Democrats renewed their call for Republican House members to sign a discharge petition that would force a vote on a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

As of Tuesday, a total of 191 House members — all Democrats — had signed the discharge petition. A total of 218 signatures are needed to force a vote on HR 15, an immigration reform bill Democrats introduced in October. The bill is very similar to the one approved in the Senate last June.

SEE ALSO: House Democrats will try to force vote on immigration reform bill

House Democrats pointed out in a call with reporters Tuesday that as many as 30 House Republicans have come out in support of immigration reform with a path to citizenship.

They also announced they will begin distributing a memorandum in the districts of these 30 Republicans to call on them to “walk the walk” on immigration reform by signing the discharge petition. The memo outlines the economic impact that immigration reform would have on specific districts.

“We’re now asking them to put their pen where their mouth is,” Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) told reporters.

No House Republican has announced plans to sign the discharge petition. Not even the three Republican co-sponsors of HR 15 — Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and David Valadao and Jeff Denham of California — have said they will sign it.

Discharge petition is ‘last effort’ to push for immigration reform

Some House Republicans have said they view the filing of the discharge petition as a political move by House Democrats to gain votes in the November midterm elections. But Rep. Joe Garcia (D-Fla.) dismissed those claims last month, saying the discharge petition is the last possible option Democrats have left to force legislative action on immigration reform this year.

SEE ALSO: Garcia: Immigration reform discharge petition isn’t a political ploy

On Tuesday, Garcia insisted he and other members of his party have “done everything possible” to work with Republicans to move immigration reform legislation forward in the House. Garcia also said he and other Democrats saw the need to present the discharge petition given that Republicans have not moved forward on immigration reform.

“This is our last effort to do this in a legislative fix, and it’s what we need — a legislative fix that fixes this problem once and for all,” he said.

Garcia also warned that if Republicans don’t move any immigration reform bill forward by this summer, President Barack Obama will be “forced to act.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) said inaction on immigration reform is having a negative impact on the lives of many people. For example, she said U.S. citizen children are being separated from their parents due to deportations and families remain separated for decades due to the visa backlog.

“We’re done waiting,” Chu said. “With this petition we are saying put a bill on the floor for a vote.”

The renewed calls for immigration reform by House Democrats came the same day Obama met with faith leaders to discuss the importance of taking action to pass immigration reform legislation.

SEE ALSO: Gutierrez: If no immigration reform passes by July, Obama should act