Members of Congress have joined nationwide efforts to encourage President Joe Biden to clear the way for some undocumented immigrants to safely live and work in the United States.
Democratic U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Alex Padilla of California hosted a briefing on Capitol Hill April 16 challenging the administration to expand work authorizations for long-term undocumented residents. They were joined by numerous business and labor leaders demanding federal protections for immigrants in mixed-citizenship families.
“Today, there are an estimated 1.1 million U.S. citizens married to an undocumented immigrant,” Durbin said. “Our laws are supposed to provide U.S. citizens an opportunity to sponsor their noncitizen family members, but our outdated immigration system includes many categorical bars that prevent spouses from obtaining status. These families live in fear that their loved ones may be deported at any time.”
Dick Durbin
Effective solutions cannot be implemented by the White House alone, Padilla said. “While we push for the president to exercise his executive authority, we recommit to the long-term efforts here in Congress, the legislative process to provide citizenship for essential workers, a pathway to citizenship for the millions of long-term U.S. residents and more dignity and respect for them and their families.”
The briefing was among the latest in a wave of nationwide initiatives and public-awareness campaigns designed to highlight the challenges of undocumented immigrants, demand safeguards against deportation and offer creative avenues for legal employment. All have argued that the nation’s workforce and economic deficiencies can be addressed by enabling certain undocumented immigrants to work.
Earlier this month, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson convened a coalition of civic, business and labor groups advocating for expanding work permits to long-term undocumented immigrants in the city and across Illinois. At the time, Johnson announced he would send a letter to Biden, signed by other U.S. mayors, urging the White House clear the way for more immigrants to work.
Providing a more equitable and inclusive future for immigrants opens the way for more economic security for all Chicagoans, Johnson said.
Immigration advocates praised Biden for crafting a temporary rule extending work permits for some new immigrants and others already legally employed in the U.S., including green card holders and those granted permission to pursue asylum cases.
Rebecca Shi
“We are inspired by President Biden granting work permits to new migrants and ask that he extend the same dignity of a legal work permit to long-term residents, including spouses of U.S. citizens,” said Rebecca Shi, executive director of the American Business Immigration Coalition.
Immigrants, including those married to Americans but still unable to work legally, need much more help, other advocates said during the briefing.
“We are U.S. citizens fighting for our undocumented spouses. President Biden, we are tired and frustrated of being left out, but we are not giving up,” said Heather Gonzalez, vice president of American Families United, a nonprofit group that helps U.S. citizens overcome immigration issues for family members.
Heather Gonzales
“No U.S. citizen should be forced to choose between their country and their spouse. Some of us have been living this life in limbo for decades and more,” she continued. “President Biden, follow through on your promise and bring long overdue relief to Americans in mixed status marriages with the power of your pen.”
Employment authorization also helps protect the children of undocumented immigrants, said Roushaunda Williams, a union leader and executive board member with the Illinois AFL-CIO.
“We can create magic right now by expanding work permits for long-term undocumented people,” she said. “We can ensure that immigrant families and children have the stability and protection they deserve.”
With more job openings than there are available employees to fill them, the nation must rely on immigrants to forestall further economic downturns, Durbin said. “We desperately need new workers and I will tell you, the ones I need to come to this country are ready to work. They don’t ask me, ‘Where’s the government welfare office?’ They ask me, ‘Where can I find a job and how soon can I start to work?’”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates 9.5 million jobs are unfilled nationwide, with only 6.5 million unemployed workers available to fill them. That leaves 3 million open positions even if all available candidates found jobs.
Granting undocumented immigrants legal work status would generate another $5 billion into the U.S. Treasury, Durbin said. “So, for our country it’s not only workers, it’s also the future of Social Security, it’s also our situation with our deficit. From a fiscal point of view, I can make a strong argument.”
Mark Seitz
Separately, El Paso Catholic Bishop Mark Seitz warned the U.S. cannot function without immigrant labor.
“Immigrant workers are integral to the life of our nation,” he said. “They tend our fields, maintain our roads and staff our hospitals. Through these and other acts, they labor for us all. Without their contributions, American communities would grind to a standstill.”
But seeking an expansion of work permits for undocumented residents is a tough sell these days in Congress, where Republicans in the House and many in the Senate are vehemently opposed to any reform unrelated to border security. The failed impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas April 17 also demonstrates the toxic environment surrounding immigrants and their supporters, Durbin said.
“Their feelings are that the immigrants have not been a positive part of our country and won’t be a positive part of our future. They are wrong. They have always been wrong.”