AURORA | Nine Aurora City Council members are urging Colorado’s congressional delegation to support an immigration reform bill passed in the U.S. Senate last month and waiting for a U.S. House vote.

The city council members who voiced support are: Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan, Council members Bob LeGare, Bob Broom, Barb Cleland, Debi Hunter Holen, Molly Markert, Sally Mounier and Brad Pierce. Council members Bob Roth and Marsha Berzins did not sign on to the letter.

A letter by the council members was sent to the state’s congressional delegation July 18 asking them to act on immigration reform as soon as possible. It’s widely expected that the bill may not see a vote until after Congress breaks for August recess.

“We’ve got a lot of people in this city and state who are affected by what happens, or what doesn’t happen,” Hogan said. “Without a solution, it’s hurting our residents, and it’s hurting businesses. (A bill) would help families and strengthen our neighborhoods.”

LeGare said he knows his support for immigration reform will upset some fellow conservatives, but he said giving Colorado’s undocumented immigrants a chance at a better future is “the right thing to do.”

“These are hardworking people, doing the things that need to be done in this country and they graduate from high school but they’re stuck in low-wage jobs, living in the shadows,” he said.

Aurora has a large immigrant population. In Ward I, which includes north Aurora and the Anschutz Medical Campus, about 40 percent of all residents are immigrants.

Councilwoman Sally Mounier, who represents that ward, also says she supports comprehensive immigration reform but did not know council members were sending letters to Congress. She said a complete overhaul of immigration rules needs to happen, and it’s long overdue.

“Border security and a path to citizenship are two parts of a hundred-part situation with immigration and immigration issues, and I want the totality to be addressed,” she said. “I want Congress to act today.”

The letter urges Colorado’s congressional representatives, including U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora, to support the bill passed by the U.S. Senate last month.

“While we may not agree with every single provision in the bill, we recognize that it’s our best chance in a generation to fix our broken system,” council members wrote in the letter.

Coffman’s office did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The letter was encouraging to members of immigrant rights groups in Aurora that have sent hundreds of letters to Congress over the past several months, urging them to pass an immigration overhaul bill.

“It shows a really broad coalition of support,” said Lee Ann Gott, a member of Aurora-based Rights for All People and a retired Aurora Public Schools teacher who now teaches citizenship classes to immigrants.

The passage of a comprehensive immigration bill would directly impact Aurora, since the city has a high concentration of immigrants, many of whom are undocumented, she said.

One of those undocumented immigrants is Gerardo Noriega, an Aurora resident who graduated from Smoky Hill High School in 2008 and is volunteers for Rights for All People.

Noriega faced deportation several months ago, but was recently awarded “deferred action” status, which means the federal government will not prosecute him for being an illegal immigrant because he was brought here from Mexico by his parents.

He hopes council members’ letter will have clout in Congress, because for him, a comprehensive immigration reform bill is personal. The passage of a reform bill would mean he’d be allowed to vote, pay taxes and go to college and become an auto mechanic.

“It means achieving the dream of becoming a citizen of the U.S. and being able to give back to the country which I’ve always considered my home,” he said.

Aurora Chamber of Commerce President Kevin Hougen also sent a similar letter to Congress.

The landmark bill passed by the Senate last month would tighten border security, expand the highly skilled worker program and set up new guest worker arrangements for lower-skilled workers and farm laborers. It would also provide a pathway to citizenship for many of the 11 million immigrations illegally in the U.S., one that includes paying fines, learning English and taking other steps.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Reach reporter Sara Castellanos at 720-449-9036 or sara@aurorasentinel.com.