Leaders and organizers from unions representing immigrant workers will join religious and community activists to announce results of a bipartisan, nationwide poll on voters' attitudes toward immigration reform at a news conference Tuesday in Fresno.

The bipartisan poll was conducted by Republican pollster Ed Goeas and Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, and will be released at news conferences in 18 cities across the nation.

The survey was sponsored by the Service Employees International Union, the largest union in the AFL-CIO, and Catholic Healthcare West, which employs more than 40,000 health care workers and operates 48 hospitals in California, Arizona and Nevada. A critical component of CHW's mission is delivering health services to the poor and disenfranchised, and to advocate on their behalf. CHW believes access to health care, regardless of immigration status, is a critical issue facing the nation.

Landmark United Farm Workers-sponsored bills by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. Howard Berman would allow an estimated 500,000 undocumented U.S. field laborers to adjust--or legalize--their immigration status.

Who: UFW National Vice President Lupe Martinez, Catholic Charities Executive Director Ernesto Velasquez, SEIU Organizer Mariana Durazo plus other immigrant, labor and community activists.

What: News conference releasing results of a new bipartisan, nationwide poll of voters' opinions on immigration reform.

When: 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2001.

Where: National Farm Workers Service Center office, 2500 Merced St. (at O St.) in Fresno.

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