WASHINGTON, DC - Today, NumbersUSA congratulates its more than 440,000 activists on their tireless, hard work to defeat the Senate amnesty bill (S. 1639). The Senate voted against cloture 46 to 53 after their offices have been flooded for weeks by phone calls and faxes from Americans against the amnesty bill. NumbersUSA processed more than 1.5 million faxes for members in June alone on top of the more than 750,000 faxes sent to Congress in May.
"This is one of the biggest victories for grassroots activism that I’ve ever seen," said Roy Beck, Executive Director of NumbersUSA. "Despite the zombie-like return from the dead of this amnesty bill due to intense pressure from the cheap-labor lobby and the White House, today, a majority of Senators proved that they care about what their constituents think on this important issue of immigration."
NumbersUSA’s membership has increased over 80 percent since January 2007 to more than 440,000 activists. Their e-mail list has surpassed the 1.5 million mark. More than 2.25 million faxes were sent to Congress in May and June through NumbersUSA’s website. The Senate switchboard was shut down Thursday morning before the vote by the volume of calls on this issue. Throughout the Senate debate, NumbersUSA has been updating its members on the content and status of the Senate amnesty bill several times a day and encouraging them to contact their Senators to voice their opposition.
“Attrition Through Enforcement and Self-Removal is the fairest and most viable way to reform our immigration system,” said Beck. “Poll after poll has shown that Americans want our immigration laws enforced consistently and effectively in order to curb illegal immigration and reduce the illegal numbers in the United States. It is my sincerest hope that the Senate will take what it has heard from the American people and craft an immigration reform bill that will respect the rule of law and fix our broken immigration system.”
