Most House members get a failing grade on immigration score card

Here are the results of the national immigration score card. (VOXXI/Griselda Nevarez)

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Sanchez’s group is one of the Latino organizations that are behind the score card. The other groups involved are the Hispanic Federation, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and Voto Latino.

The scores were tallied based on how House members voted on recent immigration-related bills, like an amendment to defund the Obama administration’s deferred action program that provides undocumented youth with deportation relief and work authorization.

The scores were also tallied based on how House members responded to the immigration reform bill, known as H.R. 15, that House Democrats introduced last October. House members were graded on whether they co-sponsored the bill or signed a discharge petition to bring the bill to the House floor for a vote.

Wednesday’s release of the score card results came a day after President Barack Obama directed Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Jonhson to hold off on completing a review of the administration’s deportation policies until the end of the summer. A White House official said the move was made to give the House “space to fix the broken immigration system, and to deny the Republicans any excuse for further inaction.”

Score card serves as ‘wake-up call’ on immigration reform

The Latin leaders told reporters on Wednesday that the score card should serve as a reminder to House members that Latinos are closely monitoring what legislative actions they take on immigration reform.

“It should serve as a wake-up call to those members of Congress who are not helping to advance the cause of just and pragmatic reform,” said Jose Calderon, president of the Hispanic Federation. “Failure in leadership on immigration will certainly not go unnoticed by our community.”

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Currently, efforts to pass immigration reform legislation in the Republican-controlled House are at a standstill. Calderon and other Latino leaders on Wednesday’s call with reporters contended that Republicans bear most of the blame for the standstill.

They also said that as the midterm elections near, they plan to use the score card results to show Latino voters where House members stand on immigration reform so that they can see which members are obstructing efforts to pass legislation.

Ben Monterroso, executive director of Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, said members of his group are already preparing to show the score card as they begin walking through neighborhoods to encourage Latinos to vote.

“The score card should remind Congress that our community does not forget those who turn their backs on us,” Monterroso said. “Congress is sadly mistaken if it thinks it can ignore the Latino community.”

The Latino leaders also made it clear that there is still a window of opportunity for House members, mainly Republicans, to improve their scores.

Janet Murguia, president and CEO of NCLR, said House Republicans could “redeem themselves” by bringing up immigration reform legislation. Doing so, she said, would also help the Republican Party “rebuild” its relationship with Latinos, as well as put an end to the “humanitarian crisis” that is devastating the Latino community.

Murguia also warned that “the GOP may never again graduate to the White House” if House Republicans don’t act on immigration reform by the end of this summer.

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