Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed calls for Republicans to move on immigration

A coalition of 25 mayors from across the country, including Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, met on Monday in New York City, NY, for the first Cities United for Immigration Action summit. The gathering, hosted by NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio, met in support of President Barack Obama's immigration executive orders that provide protection from deportation for as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants.

The coalition met to discuss ways to implement the president's orders in their cities, and to lay groundwork on how to influence Congress to move forward with a comprehensive immigration reform.  The mayors took tus giving speeches in front of the press about the need to educate immigrant communities on the recent changes to immigration laws and to implement them responsibly. Mayor Reed called this time "our moment to be consequential."  

Reed also spoke about the importance of a more broad Congressional action within the next several months.

”The folks on the other side of this issue have been very loud and very forceful in voicing their disagreement with the president’s order, said Reed. We think candidly that there needs to be somebody on the other side who is standing up for folks and having a substantive conversation about how we can actually move this along.

The coalition includes mayors from 31 cities, including: San Francisco, CA, Pittsburgh, PA, Providence, RI, Dayton, OH and more. Click here for a complete list.