Washington, DC -On Thursday, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano will meet with immigrant advocates and leaders from faith, business, law enforcement, and labor to discuss immigration reform.  A number of leaders of the Reform Immigration for America campaign are invited.  The following is a statement by Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, who will be attending the meeting in Washington on Thursday. The Forum is a non-partisan, non-profit pro-immigrant advocacy organization in Washington and a member of the Reform Immigration for America campaign.

We expect a real commitment from the Secretary of Homeland Security to step up and be the main salesman on immigration reform. She has been appointed by the President to quarterback efforts to revamp our immigration system and we need her to assert her leadership and build the public and legislative support needed to carry comprehensive immigration reform across the finish line.

The urgent need for meaningful reform is clear. The separation of families, deaths in detention, attacks on due process rights, inadequate legal channels for immigration, and no way for undocumented immigrants to earn legal status have created an unsustainable system. In order for Secretary Napolitano to do her job as chief of Homeland Security, she needs to operate in a well-functioning system that controls immigration and secures the border and this can only be achieved through comprehensive immigration reform.

As Governor of Arizona, Secretary Napolitano was clear about the need for immigration reform to restore the rule of law and the integrity of our immigration system.  Now that she leads the President's team on this issue, we need to hear more from her and see her leading the way and showing concrete progress towards reform. Immigration reform will become a reality if it is moved forward under the right leadership.