This week’s news cycle has been packed with immigration-related stories. Immigration policy reform is finally moving in Congress, and creating a road map to citizenship for 11 million immigrants living in the United States is becoming a top priority for lawmakers. In the political negotiations, some lawmakers also have demanded enhanced border controls and other enforcement measures.

In the current debate over immigration reform in the United States, “some suggest that we take the easy road and 'split the difference' among proposals for reform from lawmakers—to choose political expediency and legalize immigrants without offering any chance for them to earn citizenship,” writes AFL-CIO Director of Immigration and Community Action Ana Avendaño, in a column in The Guardian today.

That's wrong. That's the road to an America of permanent second-class workers, and it's a violation of our basic values.

A road map to citizenship is now a real possibility for 11 million aspiring citizens, thanks to immigration reform blueprints from President Obama and a bipartisan group of senators.

But DREAMer Rafael Lopez reminds us that it will take real hard work and persistence to make citizenship a reality for the millions of aspiring Americans. Check out Lopez's thoughts in the YouTube video in the post. 

The immigration reform platform President Obama unveiled today at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas shows, says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:

The president clearly shares the AFL-CIO’s commitment to a viable pathway to citizenship, meaning that seemingly innocuous conditions cannot be allowed to get in the way of a road map for citizenship that encompasses the dreams of 11 million people.

President Obama is announcing his plan for comprehensive immigration reform and a road map to citizenship today at 2:55 p.m. EST. Tune into the live feed from the White House here, and follow live updates from the AFL-CIO delegation that is at Del Sol High School to hear the president speak. 

A bipartisan group of senators released a blueprint for comprehensive immigration reform this afternoon, including a pathway to citizenship for some 11 million undocumented immigrants. The group includes Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Michael Bennett (D-Colo.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

President Obama will announce his immigration reform platform Tuesday, Jan. 29, in Las Vegas around 2 p.m. EST. A delegation from the AFL-CIO will attend this event to support the push for comprehensive immigration reform and the road map to citizenship for the 11 million aspiring citizens.

Christian Torres worked as a cook in the Pomona College dining hall for more than six years. Torres and 16 of his co-workers were fired from Pomona College for not re-verifying their work eligibility after the college asked for documents, which were requested while he was leading an effort to organize to form a union. Torres and his brother came to the United States while still teenagers to join their mother and father who were already in the U.S. He supports the movement to create a common-sense immigration process. Although Torres was fired from Pomona, he continues to support his co-workers in their struggle for better working conditions at the college. 

The prospects for comprehensive immigration reform are the highest in years. Politicians on both sides of the aisle are currently negotiating a bill, and President Obama has stated that it is one of his top legislative priorities in 2013. Speculation abounds as to what may be included in a final package but, generally speaking, comprehensive reform of our immigration system would consist of four interconnected parts: border security, internal and worksite immigration enforcement, a system to manage future immigration to the United States and a road map to citizenship for the undocumented population currently living here. The union movement has a unified framework, which addresses these points.

A new poll shows that the vast majority of Americans support common sense immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for current undocumented immigrants. The bipartisan poll found that 73 percent favored immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for aspiring citizens and that requires immigrants to pay taxes, holds employers accountable for hiring legal workers and prevents them from exploiting immigrant labor and improves border security.

To the lyrics of African American spirituals and freedom songs like “Guide My Feet” and “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ’Round,” a group made up of DREAMers, their families, clergy and other people of faith in Washington, D.C., earlier today launched the nationwide Campaign for Citizenship to call on Congress to create a road map to citizenship for the country’s 11 million aspiring Americans.