Local, Regional and National Leaders Convene in San Antonio for Meeting

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS (August 14, 2007) – Mexicans & Americans Thinking Together Foundation Executive Director Lionel Sosa, announced at a press conference today that MATT.org will host its first immigration policy roundtable in San Antonio tomorrow, Thursday, August 16, 2007. Sosa was joined by Raul Yzaguirre, a MATT Board Member and the former President of the National Council of La Raza, and Tamar Jacoby, a MATT Advisory Board Member and Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

A Message of Unity
MATT’s “Thinking Together Roundtable – First Issue: Immigration” will “Bring together a diverse group of people, Republicans and Democrats, who all want immigration reform,” Sosa told journalists and MATT supporters. “We must have a united message.”

“At MATT, we see ourselves as the middle-of-the-road conveners, we bring people together.” Sosa said today. “We want to help the next Congress pass immigration reform and get the country the workers that it needs legally.”

“MATT is a neutral forum,” Yzaguirre added. “Lionel is a Republican, I’m a Democrat, but we both want the same thing. MATT is the voice of reason and brings rationality to this debate.”

Why Immigration Reform Failed in Congress
Yzaguirre believes the immigration “bill went down in flames because the foes had a clear negative message not to pass anything.” He added, “We need to mobilize the majority of Americans. We want to bring light to a heated discussion, reason needs to prevail.”

Sosa said the American people want immigration reform to pass Congress. “We want to make sure that next time Senate and Congress address immigration reform it passes,” Sosa said. “It’s extremely important for this country, and 62% of Americans understand that immigration reform is important and want it to happen.”

Tamar Jacoby, one of the leading players in the immigration policy discussions in Washington, remains optimistic. “We came so close this year; the actual vote did not quite reflect how close we were,” Jacoby said. “A vocal minority stopped it; they were able to get to their Senators. We are very close, and the public wants it.”

Jacoby praised the MATT forum’s diversity, which “will have people from the left to the right, a real diverse group, lobbyists, growers, etc. We need something so the new president can get this passed overwhelmingly the way it should be passed.”

“It will be interesting to see if we come together as a group that can really work together in the next couple of years,” Jacoby added.