{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140223025617/http://denham.house.gov/news/modesto-bee-denham-asks-ceres-supporters-urge-others-house-support-immigration-reform", "The Modesto Bee: Denham asks Ceres supporters to urge others in House to support immigration reform legislation", "2013-11-04", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "CA", "Jeffrey Denham", "D000612", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Ceres \u2014 Rep. Jeff Denham told an audience of supporters in Ceres on Sunday that he has had some criticism from within his own district after recently becoming the first Republican to formally endorse a comprehensive immigration-reform bill introduced by House Democrats.\nBut a lot of criticism is coming in the form of phone calls to his office from people outside his district. So Denham wants those who support his stance on immigration to do the same.\nHe asked a few hundred people gathered at St. Jude\u2019s Catholic Church to call the offices of those in the House of Representatives who don\u2019t support comprehensive immigration reform and ask them why.\n\u201cIf we work together in this next month and a half, we can get it done,\u201d Denham told the audience.\nHis visit to Ceres was one of three stops in Stanislaus County on Sunday. He met with faith-based groups, discussing immigration reform and his support of the House bill.\nModesto-based Congregations Building Community organized the Ceres event. The organization has worked to galvanize support for a law that would provide an opportunity for U.S. citizenship for millions of immigrants who entered the country illegally.\nReps. David Valadao of Hanford and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida are the two other Republicans who have since joined Denham, publicly announcing their support of the bill. It is similar to a Senate bill passed in June.\nThe House bill includes a pathway to legal status and, potentially, U.S. citizenship for immigrants. It includes myriad other provisions, including border-security measures, an agricultural worker program and employment verification.\nDivisions within party\nSome California Republicans in Congress have said an overhaul of immigration laws is important to the state\u2019s economy and the GOP\u2019s future.\nBut others oppose what they consider \u201camnesty\u201d for lawbreakers, underscoring the difficulty of moving such a bill through the GOP-controlled House.\nRep. Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach, the senior California Republican in Congress, said Friday that granting legal status to millions of immigrants in the country illegally would \u201cdestroy our party.\u201d\nDenham said in Ceres on Sunday that the proposed bill by no means makes it easy for immigrants to gain citizenship.\nHe said there is a 13-year process with application fees and tough background checks, ensuring that applicants have paid back taxes and have not been convicted of crimes, among other requirements.\n\u201cBut it\u2019s a workable process,\u201d Denham said. \u201cIt\u2019ll give hope to people. It will keep families together.\u201d\nOutside support\nJennifer Romero, 22, of Aurora, Colo., said she hopes the proposed bill will be passed and bring her family back together again.\n\u201cI haven\u2019t been able to see my mom in six years,\u201d she said.\nHer mother, Janice Romero, entered the country illegally. She hasn\u2019t been able to return to the U.S. after she visited her gravely ill parents in Guererro, Mexico.\n\u201cThey were really sick, and she wanted to see them again before they died,\u201d she said about her mother, who has since been denied twice for a visa to enter the U.S.\nRomero said her father lives in a lonely home without his wife, and her younger sisters, now 15 and 18, have grown up without their mom.\nShe and others from outside Denham\u2019s district traveled to Ceres to share their stories and show their support for the Republican from Turlock.\nThey hope to push representatives in their own congressional districts to join Denham in backing the House bill.\nMiguel Herrera is a 23-year-old Fresno State University political-science student from Tulare County. He told Denham about his friend Christian Jimenez.\nThey grew up together, going to some of the same schools. They spent their first year out of high school working in the area\u2019s peach orchards.\nHerrera said his friend was captured in an immigration raid in 2009 while walking out of a store after work in Orosi, a small town just north of Visalia. His friend was deported, and he hasn\u2019t seen him since.\n\u201cI have witnessed the struggle of undocumented people,\u201d Herrera told Denham. \u201cThat was a life ruined. He wanted a better future for himself.\u201d\nGloria Sanchez of Congregations Building Community stood up and thanked Denham for being the first Republican in the House to support the bill.\nShe asked the congressman to gather members of his party who told their constituents that they would support a pathway to citizenship.\n\u201cIn H.R. 15, there is a way to support a path to citizenship, and now is the time to support it,\u201d Sanchez said of the bill.\nDenham assured Sanchez that his office has held meetings with House members to galvanize support for comprehensive reform, and they have another meeting scheduled soon.\nHe said he and other members have walked around the House floor, looking for signatures to a letter asking Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to schedule a vote soon.\nTiming is tricky\nDenham said the biggest challenge to pass the reform bill is timing. His fear is that the House will not schedule a vote before the end of the year, and that other issues such as the national debt ceiling and funding the federal government will push immigration reform to the back burner next year.\n\u201cWe need a vote on immigration reform, and we need it now,\u201d Denham said.\nHerrera said he fears that the reform bill will be pushed off much longer, so it can be used as an issue in the next presidential race.\nDenham said he has spoken to Republicans in the House and asked them what they don\u2019t like about the bill, hoping they can discuss their concerns and work together on passing the legislation.\n\u201cBut don\u2019t just say no\u201d is Denham\u2019s message to House Republicans. \u201cHelp us to get you to say yes.\u201d\nSource:\u00a0http://www.modbee.com/2013/11/03/3010263/denham-asks-ceres-supporters-to.html", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140223025617/http://denham.house.gov/news/modesto-bee-denham-asks-ceres-supporters-urge-others-house-support-immigration-reform"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4565619640052319, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}