RESOURCE:
      SAMPLE LETTER TO THE EDITOR 

Below is a sample letter to the editor. Consider writing a letter to your local newspaper in response to something you read or heard in the news, so that your letter will be relevant and timely. And please add your own concerns and experiences regarding immigration to give the letter a more personal touch.

Dear Editor:

Our immigration system is broken, and the states are taking the matter into their own hands!

(Insert briefly what your state legislators are presenting).

The federal government needs to deal with immigration reform. Having 50 different laws concerning immigration does not make for an efficient policy, nor does it address the brokenness of our immigration system. Each day in social service programs, hospitals, and schools the human consequences of a broken immigration system are apparent. Families are separated; migrants exploited by unscrupulous employers and smugglers; and human beings, desperate to survive, perish in the American desert. Moreover, as our nation benefits from the hard work of undocumented workers, we do not extend them basic workplace or legal protections at the same time some scapegoat them for our social ills.

We need to urge our Senators and Representatives to enact immigration reform that reunifies families and provides a pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants.