Local Rally Supports Immigration Reform

DEARBORN (WWJ) - On the heels of the Senate's announcement of a bipartisan proposal for immigration reform, a rally on the issue is held in Dearborn.

WWJ's John Hewitt reports that among those on hand were families at the center of the storm of immigration reform.

People like Francisco Flores who call metro Detroit home and is desperate to find a path to U.S. citizenship.

"We must be brothers and sisters and for good of the humanity no more separate families," he said.

Members of the Alliance for Immigration Rights and Reforms in Michigan (AIR) are hoping to organize some 250 immigrant families to take part on a national march in Washington, April 10.

Ryan Bates is the spokesman for AIR: "We are not just making a political statement for many folks - this will be a personal statement about their family."

Hassan Jaber, executive director of Dearborn-based ACCESS, says changes are needed: "There are families that are being kept separate ... for more than seven years ... and these are the ones that have a legal right to come."

Jaber says the system is broken for these immigrants.

Congressman Gary Peters attended the rally and added, "It will make us stronger economically, it will make us stronger morally, it is the right thing to do."