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A Pathway to Citizenship for Immigrant Essential Workers
Posted on Jul 16 2021
July 15, 2021 – This week, Democrats in the U.S. Senate announced that a pathway to citizenship would be included in the upcoming budget reconciliation package. On Friday, July 16, at 2:00 p.m. Senator Smith, Unidos MN, the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM), the Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL), and other organizations will hold a joint press conference at Mercado Central (1515 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55407) highlighting Senator Smith’s support for passing a pathway to citizenship for essential workers through budget reconciliation.
WHO:
- Senator Tina Smith, D-MN
- Veena Iyer, Immigrant Law Center or Minnesota
- Emilia Gonzalez Avalos, UnidosMN
- Jenny Srey, Coalition of Asian American Leaders
WHAT: Press conference supporting a pathway to citizenship for immigrant essential workers
WHERE: 1515 E Lake St., Minneapolis, MN 55407
WHEN: 2 p.m.
Budget reconciliation is a process that provides a narrow path to passing some types of legislation with a simple majority. It’s a process that is used by both parties on a regular basis and it offers a path forward. A reconciliation bill that includes citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, farm workers and other essential workers will boost economic growth, create jobs and increase wages for all Americans.
More than 5 million undocumented immigrants have been risking their lives as “essential workers” during the worst public health crisis in our lifetime. More than two-thirds of all undocumented immigrant workers serve in frontline jobs in essential industries—healthcare, home care, transportation, agriculture, food production, construction and other industries.
“It’s time for We the People to truly include all of us,” said Emilia Gonzalez Avalos, executive director of Unidos MN. “Lawmakers supporting immigrants should use every ounce of their power to ensure that citizenship for immigrant workers and families is part of the budget reconciliation process.”
“It is a moral failure that today, in the United States, millions of immigrant workers are considered both ‘essential’ and ‘deportable,’” said Veena Iyer, executive director of ILCM. “Congress must act now to protect individuals with temporary protected status and the millions of Dreamers and immigrant workers who lack a pathway to permanent legal status and citizenship.”
Essential workers without permanent legal status should be recognized as the Americans they already are. They have been there for all of us. Now it’s time for all of us to be there for them.