Senator Warner spent some time today skyping with Charlottesville High School students about immigration reform. CHS’s Global Citizenship Class has been studying immigration reform using a lesson plan called “Speak Up for Immigration,” which was developed by Senator Warner and the University of Virginia’s education school. The lesson plan, which is available online through UClass, encourages high school students across Virginia to develop more informed perspectives on immigration reform and participate in the democratic process.

The Senator spoke a bit about his work to pass comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate, and why it’s so important to get the House to take up this critical legislation in the new year. “No legislation is perfect – and we’ve seen that with Obamacare – but this legislation got 68 votes in the Senate,” he said. “America is a country of immigrants and it’s important that we continue to remember and honor that.”

The CHS students asked a lot of good questions, including if Senator Warner’s had any personal reasons for wanting to pass immigration reform. “I have two big ones, really – first I have an intern in my DC office who was brought here from Bolivia by her parents when she was very young,” Senator Warner said. “She’s never known any home but America and she wants to stay here and contribute to her country. Second, as a former tech entrepreneur, I’ve seen immigrants who wanted to create lots of jobs in Virginia but couldn’t because of our laws, and had to take those jobs to Canada. I think it’s incredibly crucial that we get this passed for the good of our Commonwealth and country.”

Senator Warner encouraged the students to share their opinions on immigration reform with their representatives. “It’s not enough to just talk to me now – if you support this legislation, you need to reach out to people in your community, and to all of your congressional representatives and let them know how important getting this done is.”