HNBA in Accord with President Obama's Immigration Reform in 2013: HNBA Has Instituted a Nationwide Movement

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Officials of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) attended today's announcement by President Barack Obama in Las Vegas regarding comprehensive immigration reform and its importance as a policy priority for 2013. The HNBA has long supported the Administration's immigration principles, as laid out in the 2011 blueprint, "Fixing the Immigration System for America's 21st Century Economy", and welcomes today's remarks by the President on how to implement those ideals. In particular, the HNBA stands behind efforts to offer a reasonable and efficient pathway to citizenship for the millions of law-abiding undocumented immigrants here in the U.S. and fix our broken immigration system.

"The HNBA welcomes today's announcement by President Obama regarding immigration reform principles that are a dramatic breakthrough for immigrants and our entire nation." said HNBA National President Peter M. Reyes, Jr. "I have implemented an organization wide structure, which will provide both grass-roots and national support to enable the HNBA to work effectively with the President and Congress to achieve positive and meaningful immigration reform that safeguards due process and treats persons with respect and dignity.  Also at the core of this initiative is ensuring the creation of a pathway to citizenship for the millions of immigrants who have lived here and contributed to our economy and society without fully-protected legal status. The time has come and now is the moment."

About the Hispanic National Bar Association

The Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) is an incorporated, not-for-profit, national membership organization that represents the interests of the more than 100,000 Hispanic attorneys, judges, law professors, legal assistants, and law students in the United States and its territories. From the days of its founding four decades ago, the HNBA has acted as a force for positive change within the legal profession. It does so by encouraging Latino students to choose a career in the law and by prompting their advancement within the profession once they graduate and start practicing. Through a combination of issue advocacy, programmatic activities, networking events and educational conferences, the HNBA has helped generations of lawyers succeed.

SOURCE Hispanic National Bar Association