Contact: Eben Burnham-Snyder, Rep. Ed Markey, 202-225-2836

WASHINGTON (June 27, 2013) – Congressman and Senator-elect Ed Markey (D-Mass.) today cheered the Senate passage of comprehensive immigration reform, releasing the following statement:

“The passage of this bill will bring millions of individuals out from the shadows and onto a path to citizenship, reduce our deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars, and help grow our economy. While I am concerned about the expensive and excessive border security requirements in the bill, I support this bipartisan compromise legislation and encourage House Republicans to not block progress on immigration reform.

“Our broken immigration system deprives highly skilled and entrepreneurial immigrants the opportunity to build their businesses here and enhance our neighborhoods, instead forcing them to construct their companies abroad. It leaves high tech employers and universities throughout Massachusetts struggling to find qualified workers to fill new positions. That’s why we need this bill. It increases the cap on visas for high skilled immigrants. It will ensure that Dream Act youth -- children who are brought to this country through no fault of their own and who strive to embody everything it means to be an American -- will have a clear path to success.”

# # #