Hispanic faith leaders call on Florida senator's support for immigration proposal

Hispanic faith leaders held a news conference on Wednesday, Feb. 28, to call on Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) to support the White House Immigration Proposal to provide the DREAMers a path to citizenship.

Hispanic faith leaders held a press conference Wednesday calling on support for the current White House immigration  proposal.

Pastors and reverends representing several churches in the Orlando area targeted their message toward Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and asked him to back the plan, which they said is the best way to  provide citizenship to young undocumented immigrants.

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"We all, as pastors, have members in our churches that are suffering and that need their situation to be resolved," Rev. Gary Berrios said.

In January, President Donald Trump proposed giving 1.8 million young undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship in exchange for $25 billion for his long-promised wall and a host of other strict immigration reforms.

The plan failed in the Senate by a vote of 39-60.

In February, a bipartisan immigration deal also failed to get the 60 votes necessary to advance the legislation.

"We're calling on our leaders to come together to come up with a plan for these folks who have followed the rules and contribute so much," Berrios said.

After Wednesday's press conference, Nelson's office responded to the calls for support of the White House plan.

"Sen. Nelson has been an outspoken leader on this issue in the Senate and has cosponsored legislation to protect Dreamers from deportation and provide them a pathway to citizenship," a spokesperson said.


About the Author

Mark Lehman became a News 6 reporter in July 2014, but he's been a Central Florida journalist and part of the News 6 team for much longer. While most people are fast asleep in their bed, Mark starts his day overnight by searching for news on the streets of Central Florida.

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