Immigration Reform 2013 News: Latinos Launch Social Media Campaign to Support Immigration Bill

Pro-immigration supporters and advocates have already taken to the streets and to Washington to have their voices heard on immigration reform, but they recently pulled out another weapon they hoped would further their cause--the Internet.

Last week, activists combined their resources to launch an interactive "iMarch" campaign on Washington. For two days, May 22 and 23, supporters urged people online to send their messages to Congress and make it clear that they wanted comprehensive immigration reform passed in Washington.

Dubbed "The March for Innovation," the campaign utilized supporters from grassroots activists to tech leaders and companies to organize a virtual march on Washington that generated thousands of tweets that landed more than a half billion times, organizers told Politico.

"We're doing it because our immigration system should be fostering innovation -- keeping and attracting the best and brightest here in the United States. We're doing it because we need a system of fairness that lets honest, hard-working immigrants emerge from the shadows of a broken system," the group wrote in a statement on their website.

There are still legislators who are opposing immigration reform. One of them is Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, one of the most outspoken senators opposed to providing a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants who live illegally in the U.S. in the proposed comprehensive immigration reform bill submitted to Congress recently by the "gang of eight."

The campaign targeted Sen. Cruz and other legislators who have been resistant to immigration reform; as Politico notes, Cruz himself was inundated with as many as 300 tweets from pro-immigration constituents on his Twitter account.

Social media has been a key part in the past in drumming up Latino support on political issues, such as the November presidential election, which generated a record turnout for registered Hispanic voters. The fight that the immigration reform bill is certain to see in the GOP-controlled House and a Senate floor where "gang of eight" supporters are not certain they have enough votes, which would be 60, for the bill's guaranteed passage, the added pressure from Hispanics and immigration supporters on a virtual scale could help sway legislators to vote in favor of the bill.

"We have been able to move the needle through social media and that is the measure of success," says activist Elianne Ramos, a founder of LATISM.org, told Politico.

The presence of Latinos using social media and hi-tech devices has been steadily increasing through the years. In April 2012, according to Nielsen's State of the Hispanic Consumer report, the study found that Hispanic adults, compared to the average U.S. adult online, were 21 percent more likely to post links, articles, videos and website, and seven percent more likely to have one or more social networking profiles. Latinos were also found to be the fastest-growing ethnic group year-over-year on Facebook and Wordpress.com.

"Our numbers alone won't guarantee the Latino community's full potential without an active community, fully engaged across American economic and political life - that's what social media has given us," said Jason Llorenz, director of Innovation Policy, the Latino Information Network at Rutgers University.