Working with Comunidad Unida del Lehigh Valley, CPD coordinated a rally with Allentown, PA Mayor Ed Pawlowski, City Council President Julio Guridy, and Lehigh Valley clergy and community members urging legislators to take federal action on comprehensive immigration reform.

Nearly 100 individuals gathered at Allentown City Hall to demand Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey vote in favor of the Senate’s immigration bill, which would create a pathway to citizenship for many undocumented immigrants living in the United States.

“I think it’s critical for our American economy, I think it’s critical for our city, I think it’s critical for the country as a whole to get behind comprehensive immigration reform that has a path to citizenship,” said Mayor Pawlowski.

Rally participants also called upon Congressman Charlie Dent, Republican Representative for PA’s 15th District, to vote for comprehensive – not piecemeal – immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship if and when the Senate bill reaches the House.    

“The piecemeal immigration bills currently being proposed in the House are cruel and totally miss the point,” said Councilman Guridy. “…These bills don’t even offer immigrants a path to citizenship. Today we’re calling on our Congressmen to vocally support the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship, which a clear majority of Pennsylvanians support."

Click here to see a video of the rally.