Sun Sentinel: Wasserman Schultz demands Republicans act on immigration reform, in-state tuition for undocumented students

Washington, DC, April 28, 2014
At a news conference at Hispanic Unity of Florida in Hollywood Wasserman Schultz said U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, must put immigration reform legislation on the floor of the House for a vote. She said she was delivering a "simple message" to Boehner. "Allow the House to vote on comprehensive immigration reform without delay." Wasserman Schultz said the immigration reform legislation is "common sense and ready to go."
By Anthony Man
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, pushed Monday for two key issues that could help decide how enthusiastic Hispanic voters are this year – and which party they end up favoring.
At a news conference at Hispanic Unity of Florida in Hollywood Wasserman Schultz said U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, must put immigration reform legislation on the floor of the House for a vote. She said she was delivering a “simple message” to Boehner. “Allow the House to vote on comprehensive immigration reform without delay.”
Wasserman Schultz said the immigration reform legislation is “common sense and ready to go.” It would reduce the deficit, strengthen the nation’s borders, and improve the economy – and improve the lives of many people living in the U.S. She called it the “moral thing to do” for “millions of our brothers and sisters” living in the shadows.
Wasserman Schultz was joined at the event by U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia, D-Miami. He said there’s no area in the United States that would benefit more from comprehensive immigration reform than South Florida.
The Florida Senate must pass a measure granting in-state tuition for state college and university students who were brought to the U.S. years ago. Wasserman Schultz ridiculed Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s claim that he supports the legislation. “He’s exercised exactly zero leadership,” she said. “This is squarely in the Republicans’ court and I hope they don’t let the legislative session expire on Friday without taking it up and sending it to the governor.”
Josie Bacallao, president and CEO of Hispanic Unity, said it’s an important issue for many people in South Florida.
Anthony Da Rosa, 20, a student at Palm Beach State College, said his “whole life is here,” after coming to the U.S. in April 2004.
He’s been through elementary, middle and high schools in the U.S.
He said paying for college “gets hard with the out of state tuition and the rate I’m paying.”
He said he works 70 hours a week at a phone store and at a golf course to earn the money to pay for his tuition.
He started to tear up during the news conference, and Wasserman Schultz put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
“It’s not much I’m asking for. It’s just in-state tuition would be all. That would be the best thing,” he said.
He said he want’s to get his associate’s degree in nursing and eventually a bachelor’s degree because of the care he got after a 2006 accident, which included four days in a coma.
“I just want to get my nursing degree and work in the emergency room and give back to the community for what they’ve done for me,” Da Rosa said.
Wasserman Schultz told him that having to work two jobs to pay for school “is a burden that is far too great for you to have to bear.”
Copyright © 2014, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
 
Copyright © 2014, South Florida Sun-Sentinel