Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s First District released the following statement today after signing a discharge petition to demand a vote in the House of Representatives on H.R. 15, the bipartisan Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. 

“It has been nine months since the Senate acted to fix our broken immigration system; yet millions of immigrant families and American businesses continue to wait for House Republicans to act. That’s why I’m joining my colleagues to demand an immediate vote on the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act,” said Titus. “This bill provides a fair pathway to citizenship, promotes innovation and entrepreneurship, protects our workers, and secures our borders while reducing the deficit by $900 billion over the next two decades.  The House Republicans’ refusal to allow a vote on CIR is economically foolish and morally indefensible.”

Immigrants comprise around 20 percent of Nevada’s population and contribute millions of dollars to our state’s economy.  Nationally, according to some estimates, comprehensive immigration reform would contribute $832 billion to our economy over ten years, resulting in 121,000 jobs being created every year.  In addition, with the increased tax revenue that federal, state, and local governments would collect from newly legalized immigrants, we could strengthen our investment in communities by funding more than 12 million new Pell Grants and hiring more than 700,000 additional K-12 teachers.