Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is preparing to announce Thursday a new partnership with the Obama administration on efforts to integrate immigrants in the local community.
The partnership will focus on “citizenship awareness, education and outreach activities,” according to a news release issued by the mayor’s office. Reed is set to appear with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Leon Rodriguez at a City Hall news conference at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.
Reed has been vocal about immigration in recent months. In February, for example, the mayor forcefully spoke out in support of President Barack Obama’s controversial immigration programs, just days after a federal judge in Texas sided with Georgia and 25 other states by putting them on hold.
Saying he is trying to keep families together, the president announced in November plans to shield from deportation millions of immigrants without legal status. Georgia and the other states have filed suit to stop the president’s actions, arguing they represent an unconstitutional end-run around Congress. Reed is part of a large group of mayors, county officials and others representing 73 municipalities across the country that has filed court papers in support of the president’s actions.
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