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Alex Padilla

As Senate Democrats move forward on the budget reconciliation process, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Budget Committee and Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, continued to make the case for the inclusion of immigration reform measures to his colleagues and to the Senate parliamentarian.

Padilla was Thursdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words:

Madam President, I rise to speak on the Budget Resolution that will soon come before us, and the opportunity it represents to finally provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of our neighbors, friends, and family members.

I rise today on behalf of the people who are the subject of our immigration debate.

The immigrants who have lived and worked in communities throughout the United States for yearssometimes decadeswhile stuck in the limbo Congress created.

Our nation depends on the labor of immigrants.

There has been bipartisan agreement on this for generations.

But while our nation depends on the labor of immigrants, we do not provide the pathways to citizenship that these individuals and their families have earned. Today, we stand on the brink of a historic opportunity to adopt long-overdue reforms to our immigration system.

I rise to share just a few stories of the people on whom our nation depends and for whom we need to act.

In May, I had the honor of welcoming Rose Tilus to testify before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, which I chair. Rose was born in Haiti, but fled gang violence and political instability at the age of 17. Alone, in an unfamiliar country, she dreamed of becoming a nurse.

But Roses immigration status kept that dream out of reach. For ten years, she sustained herself working as a housekeeper and as a babysitter. Roses life changed in 2010, when a devastating earthquake in Haiti allowed her to obtain a work permit under a program called Temporary Protected Status, or TPS. She seized this opportunity to return to school and fulfill her dream of becoming a nurseserving and caring for others in nursing homes, hospitals, and community health centers.

While Roses story is the story of the American dream her legal status in our country is all too temporary.

Our nations economy has always depended on the dreams, the dedication, and the contributions of immigrants.

No state knows this better than California, the fifth largest economy in the world, where nearly a quarter of Americas immigrants live and call home. Immigrants make up 27% of Californias population, and they are essential to our success in every industry.

From farmworkers in the Central Valley to tech innovators in Silicon Valley.

From construction and domestic workers to nurses and teachers.

In fact, during the COVID-19 pandemic, our country has relied even more on the essential work of immigrants. More than 5 million undocumented workers have held jobs that the federal government deems essential during the pandemic.

TPS-holders like Rose care for our loved ones in hospitals and nursing homes.

DACA recipients like Erika Henriquez, a medical assistant, help to distribute COVID tests and life-saving vaccines.

Farmworkers like Vicente Reyes and his parents show up to work every day to keep grocery store shelves stocked and put food on our tables.

As has been the case since the founding of our nation, immigrants are serving at the heart of the American story.

An overwhelming, bipartisan majority knows that people like Rose, Erika, and Vicente have earned the right to live here without fear of deportation. 70% of Americans support creating a pathway to citizenship for TPS holders, Dreamers, and farmworkers. That includes a majority of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.

Colleagues, right now, we have an opportunity to provide stability and security for the very workforce that the Department of Homeland Security, beginning with the Trump Administration, has deemed essential to our nations economy and security. As we write a reconciliation bill to create an equitable and sustainable economic recovery, we must include immigration reform.

We have strong arguments and precedent from this very body in our corner.

The logic is simple.

Providing a pathway to citizenship is a direct government action, not some carrot and stick approach involving private businesses and private actors. Newly eligible immigrants would pay fees directly to the U.S. Government as part of this direct government action, which would then be processed by government employees. Every step of this process involves direct government action and direct government revenues, expenditures, and personnel. And by expanding pathways to citizenship, we will grow our economy and improve workplaces for all.

Thats precisely the spirit and intent of the infrastructure investments that we are developing as part of the budget reconciliation bill.

Research by the Center for American Progress shows that providing a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, farmworkers and other essential workers will boost GDP by $1.5 trillion over 10 years. It will raise wages for all American workers. It will create over 400,000 new jobs. And it will generate billions of dollars of spending and tax revenue, fueling our economic recovery.

Madam President, we have more than an opportunitywe have an obligation to pass meaningful immigration reform as part of the upcoming reconciliation bill.

For Rose, Erika, and Vicente.

For the millions of essential workers and long-term residents who lack permanent status.

For the bipartisan majority of Americans who support reform for their immigrant friends, families, and neighbors.

And for every one of our constituentsbecause ALL Americans will see the economic benefits of immigration reform.

Seora Presidente, hoy no solo tenemos una oportunidad, tenemos una obligacin de tomar accin e incluir un camino a la ciudadana para inmigrantes en el proyecto de ley de reconciliacin.

Para los millones de trabajadores esenciales y miembros de nuestras comunidades que aun buscan la residencia permanente.

Para la mayora bipartidista de estadounidenses que apoyan estas reformas para sus familias, amigos y vecinos inmigrantes.

Y para todas nuestras comunidades, porque TODOS los estadounidenses vern los beneficios econmicos de estas reformas migratorias.

Madam President, I recently met with President Biden in the Oval Office to discuss Californias immigration needs. Im thankful for President Biden and Vice President Harriss unequivocal support for including immigration reforms in the budget reconciliation process. We have an opportunity and responsibility to bring security to millions of essential workers and their families.

I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing the essential work and economic contributions of immigrantsby opening their pathway to citizenship, and the American Dream.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.

Written by Mark Truppner.

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Originally posted here:
Padilla: Include Immigration Reform In Budget Reconciliation Package - MyMotherLode.com

Tallahassee, Fla. Today, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried made the following statement applauding the news that U.S. Senate Democrats proposed budget resolution includes $107 billion to create a pathway to citizenship for qualified immigrants.

In Florida, our vibrant immigrant communities are an integral part of our lives, culture, and economy. Immigration reform is long overdue, and Im glad the Senate is working to provide the 11 million undocumented people in our country with the certainty and status they deserve, Commissioner Fried said. Immigrants are a key part of our countrys story, and we must all come together to provide them with the opportunity to live, work, and achieve the American dream. I urge Congress to preserve this important immigration provision as the package moves forward, codifying a pathway to citizenship as a critical first step in the fight for broader reform.

Commissioner Fried also published an op-ed in the South Florida Sun Sentinel today calling on Congress to include a pathway to citizenship in the reconciliation package.

Commissioner Fried has been an outspoken advocate for Floridas immigrant community throughout her time as state Agriculture Commissioner. During the pandemic, she has released bilingual COVID-19 safety and vaccine resources for farmworkers, many of whom are immigrants, and fought for farmworkers to be designated as essential workers. Commissioner Fried has also advocated for free vaccines to be provided to all Floridians regardless of immigration status. She also recently announced the creation of the states first Farmworker Advisory Council under the Florida Department of Agriculture.

The op-ed can be found on the Sun Sentinel website in English and Spanish, and the full text is below.

Congress should provide pathway to citizenship for our immigrant community By Commissioner Nikki Fried

August 9, 2021

The United States has always been a nation of immigrants, which is part of the greatness and strength that characterizes us as a country. Immigrants are part of our identity, of who we are as a nation, and even more so, as a state. I am proud to be a Floridian, to have been born and raised in the diversity of Miami in the midst of an inclusive community with many cultures represented.

The contributions of immigrants to our economy, our culture and our society are undeniable, and it is our responsibility to do everything in our power to ensure they are treated with dignity and respect. Immigrants deserve nothing less.

In Florida, the importance of our immigrant community cannot be understated. In fact, over 40% of immigrants in Florida work in agriculture, ensuring every day that food is brought to the tables of not only our fellow Floridians but the entire country.

Throughout the pandemic, I made it a priority to reach every worker in our agricultural community by creating a series of bilingual videos with general information about COVID-19, best practices to avoid infection and spreading the virus, and overall farmworker safety for those working during this challenging time. Also, in partnership with Centro Campesino, we launched a bilingual campaign dedicated exclusively to promoting the vaccine among our farmworkers.

Since vaccine distribution began, I have urged Gov. DeSantis to include our agricultural workers at the top of the list, prioritizing these essential workers. I also called for vaccinations to be given to all regardless of their legal status. At the Florida Department of Agriculture, we will always work to protect farmworkers no matter who they are, where theyre from, or what papers they have.

To that end, I recently announced the creation of the states first Farmworker Advisory Council under the Florida Department of Agriculture, providing those who feed our families a voice on the Florida Cabinet.

Unfortunately, instead of recognizing the vital contributions of the many immigrants who worked on the front lines throughout the pandemic, DeSantis chose to make false claims blaming immigrants for the spread of COVID-19. This is shameful and outrageous. As essential workers in the agricultural, medical and hospitality industries among others, our immigrant community helped keep our country moving and our economy afloat while putting their personal health on the line. They deserve our thanks, not baseless blame.

Immigrants are an important part of the fabric of our society, part of the tapestry that is Florida and the United States. We need to celebrate immigrants that means taking long-overdue, common-sense action to help immigrants live, work and achieve the American dream in Florida.

I recently had the opportunity to speak directly with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients at a roundtable hosted by the Florida Immigrant Coalition. Hearing their powerful stories moved me and encouraged me to once again raise my voice on behalf of our immigrant community.

Many of those who qualified under DACA know no other country than ours. And for many TPS recipients, their home countries are no safer today than when they originally were granted this status.

It is beyond time to do the right thing and pass comprehensive immigration reform in our country. This is why I call on Congress now to include a pathway to citizenship in the reconciliation package and finally provide the 11 million undocumented people who call the United States home with the certainty and status that they deserve so they may live without fear of being deported and separated from their loved ones.

More than anything, it is time to embrace what makes us great as a nation: the immigrant heritage that makes us who we are.

Nicole Nikki Fried is the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services and an independently elected member of the Florida Cabinet.

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Commissioner Nikki Fried Applauds Inclusion of Immigration Reform in Proposed Budget Reconciliation Package / 2021 Press Releases / Press Releases /...

TAMPA - Jon Aragn remembers when his uncles were deported to Colombia two years ago after having lived in the United States for more than two decades. It was an experience that marked him, but encouraged him to continue working for an immigration reform.

The realities that immigrants live are very difficult, said Aragn, 29.

Aragn is a pastor and director of the Living Faith Bible Fellowship, a church in Tampa that brings together Hispanic and Black parishioners. He is also one of more than 150 evangelical leaders and community advocates in Florida who signed and sent a letter to Republican senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott. They urged them to address the situation of so-called Dreamers, immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children.

Nationwide 2,800 pastors, leaders and constituents in all 50 states sent the same letter that belongs to The Evangelical Immigration Table, a coalition of organizations and community leaders.

The letter encourages senators to lead in forging a bipartisan consensus that can pass both chambers of Congress and be signed into law.

Of particular urgency, immigrants who have already been residing lawfully in the country for many years - including Dreamers - should be offered an expedited process to apply for permanent legal status and eventual citizenship, the letter states.

The letter also notes the need for broader immigration reform, including a restitution-based process that would both honor the law and keep families together.

We must also finally resolve the situation of immigrants who are residing in the country unlawfully, rejecting the untenable approaches of mass deportation, blanket amnesty or the status quo, states the letter, which was posted on the website of The Evangelical Immigration Table.

In response to questions by the Tampa Bay Times, Rubio did not directly address the letters content. However, his office sent some comments made by Rubio to Fox News Special Report. In those comments Rubio said: Now is the wrong time to do it because we have an all-out border crisis today.

Scotts office did not respond to a request for comment from the Times.

Dreamers are participants of The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a program open to those who were brought to the United States before they were 16, have lived here at least five years and have a clean legal record. It provides recipients a Social Security number, enables them to work legally and invites them to renew their status every two years.

The program was established as an executive order by President Barack Obama in 2012 and never made it through Congress. Former President Donald Trump issued an order to eliminate it in 2017. A court ruled against him and new applications resumed in December. Now an estimated 616,000 people fall under its protection.

But just a month ago, a federal judge in Texas ruled against the program, prohibiting new applications but leaving it intact for existing recipients. The program remains in place under President Joe Biden, but only Congress can make it permanent.

About 24,000 of these dreamers are currently able to reside and work lawfully in Florida, said the Evangelical Immigration Table.

One of them is Italia Rico-Hurtado.

She was 8 when she came to the United States with her parents from Colombia. Rico-Hurtado, 29, is an anthropologist. She graduated with honors from private Rollins College in Winter Park. But every two years she has to pay $500 to renew her DACA and work permit, a process that can take months because of a large backlog of applications.

She said the pressure and the emotional challenge never ends.

Im part of the one third of Dreamers working on the frontline during this pandemic providing more vaccines for Central Florida while also trying to save up for the almost $500, said Rico-Hurtado.

Dreamers pay some $8.8 billion in taxes annually and contribute to the economy of their communities - even more so when they own homes, according to a 40-state survey in 2019 by the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at the University of California.

Aragn said it is unfair that some politicians dismiss all these achievements.

Caring about immigration, refugees or children being separated from their families is not a bipartisan issue, Aragn said. Its an ethical and moral one.

Read more from the original source:
Florida spiritual leaders send letter to Rubio, Scott urging immigration reform - Tampa Bay Times

CHICAGOEvergreen Park police officers pulled over Cecilia Garcias husband, Hugo Velasco, for an expired license plate in 2012. One asked if he was in the country legally, and he answered honestly. He wasnt.

Later that night, Velasco called home from the police station. The police had contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement; he was being deported for the secondtime.

Because it was his second deportation, Velasco was barred from legally re-entering the United States for 10years. Soon, he was back in Mexico. Garcia, aU.S. citizen, was left to raise their five children by herself. She says that, overnight, she had to be both a mom and dad without mychoice.

Velasco is one of more than 5million immigrants the U.S. government deported between 2002 and 2020, another casualty of asystem that tears families apart and leaves deportees with difficult odds of returning. The Biden administration has signaled awillingness to review the cases of thousands of immigrants it believes were unjustly deported during the Trump years, but as immigrant rights activists are eager to point out (and as people like Garcia have experienced), family separation is bigger than any oneadministration.

Theres asilent, invisible group of people who desperately need relief, and who arent explicitly mentioned in [conversations about immigration reform], says Csar Miguel R. Vega Magalln, Mexico advocacy fellow at the Rhizome Center for Migrants, abinational nonprofit that provides legal services for deported immigrants. Vega Magalln wants reforms to include deportees, as well as the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the UnitedStates.

Drawing inspiration from movements for displaced peoples in Palestine and elsewhere, the Rhizome Center has spearheaded a #Right2Return campaign. It broadens immigrant rights advocacy to include those separated from their families and forcibly expelled from the country. Other campaigns, such as Bring Them Home, have focused on individual Dreamers who were deported during the Obama administration; #Right2Return asserts that family reunification and returning home are basic humanrights.

Garcia, in addition to working multiple jobs to compensate for the familys lost second income, co-founded Family Reunification Not Deportation in 2015. The human rights organization provides support to immigrants and, along with groups like Al Otro Lado (To the Other Side), has joined Rhizome in calling for the right to return for people unjustlydeported.

On January 28, Rhizome published an open letter (co-signed by Family Reunification, Al Otro Lado and 69 other groups across the United States, Mexico and Germany) calling on the Biden administration to adopt aseries of policies that would grant the right to return. These policies include waivers on automatic bans (like Velasco received) and discretionary relief for those who have been criminalized, have had contact with the criminal legal system, or have criminalrecords.

Rhizome has also held aseries of live chats with groups such as Human Rights Watch and Deportados Unidos en la Lucha (Deportees United in Struggle), among other groups, to examine the consequences of mass deportation and the importance of providing deported immigrants apath to return. For now, the campaign is focused on getting immigrant rights organizations to treat deportees as more than anafterthought.

When someone gets deported, that person is not the only one affected; an entire community is being affected, says Maggie Loredo, co-director of Otros Dreams en Accin (Other Dreams in Action), adeportee-led nonprofit based in Mexico City and one of the signatories on Rhizomes open letter. As part of acoalition of advocacy groups, Otros Dreams has helped lead the Leave No One Behind Mural Project, which pushes for family reunification and new pathways to citizenship for deportedveterans.

In early July, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced anew initiative to review the cases of deported veterans and their immediate families. According to apress statement, immigration agencies will create a rigorous, systematic approach to review the cases of individuals whose removals failed to live up to our highest values. Advocates estimate the initiative could provide hundreds, or potentially thousands, of deported veterans achance to come home, but it remains unclear whether President Joe Biden is willing to reckon with the millions of other deportations that were executed when he was vice president during the Obamayears.

Until aright of return is codified into law, the deported and their families will continue to bear the burden of punitive U.S. immigration policies. We have these systems that are just meant to break us, break families apart, break communities apart, says Pricila Rivas, adeportee who works at Al Otro Lado. Something needs tochange.

See more here:
Under Biden, Migrants Continue Fighting for the Right to Return to the U.S. - In These Times

By Morf Morford

Tacoma Daily Index

If there were any issue that you would think would unite us as a nation, since literally 99% of us are or are descendants of immigrants, that issue would be immigration policy.

But in spite of personal history, a couple centuries of unparalleled progress and prosperity and unmatched achievements across Nobel Prizes, Olympics awards and technological breakthroughs, we still argue about what is clearly our biggest and most reliable strength.

This is not an opinion.

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This was, in fact the focus of a recent session put on by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. You can see the entire session here: https://www.uschamber.com/on-demand/immigration/how-immigration-reform-will-drive-economic-growth?autoplay=1&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=SFMC&utm_campaign=&utm_content=.

The name of the session was Putting Communities First: How Immigration Reform Will Drive Economic Growth.

As our economy recovers from COVID related repercussions, we need workers lots of them. In every area.

From pilots to doctors to teachers to restaurant workers, we need workers from every conceivable skill level and vocational field.

If your personal experience hasnt shown you, here are a few statistics that will show all too clearly what the issues are, how high the stakes are and what the solution is.

Seasonal workers

The U.S. cant meet demand for seasonal workers. In the first half of FY 2021, the Labor Department certified that American employers had 126,943 seasonal employment opportunities they could not fill with American workers.

This affects landscapers, seafood processors, forestry companies, construction firms, among many others, many of which are small businesses.

This also impacts the cost and availability of fresh produce for all of us.

Small businesses

A poll by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and MetLife found that less than half of small business owners can find the workers they need. (https://www.uschamber.com/series/above-the-fold/less-half-of-small-business-owners-can-find-workers-new-poll-shows)

The majority of small business owners (55%) think the U.S. small business climate will return to normal in six months to a year. Only 27% think the climate will return to normal in under six months.

I see Help wanted signs almost everywhere I go.

Many small business owners report that they would put people to work the day they apply.

Most businesses offer better pay and benefits and even sign-up bonuses and more flexible schedules

This was unheard of just a few months ago.

Tourism?

In tourism and travel dependent industries and regions, the problem is far worse.

Hospitality businesses like restaurants, hotels, and resorts are cutting back or closing altogether.

Fewer hours means less revenue and a poorer customer experience, which hurts the reputation of a tourist-dependent region. Service and wait times at restaurants and for hotel rooms to be cleaned are expanding and frustrating for employers and customers alike. Theres even a huge shortage of Uber and Lyft drivers.

Students

You might think of students as going to school. They do, of course, but they do much more than that.

They work, learn about American culture and develop networks and many of them start businesses.

Our economy needs those seasonal and part-time workers, and we need those students with their entrepreneurial energy and networks to stay here and set up their businesses within our borders.

These students, with their assets and energy, are our future.

Anyone remember the term brain drain?

That was the term used to describe the literal migration to the USA of almost every nations best and brightest young people as they sought opportunities unavailable at home but abundant here.

Somehow in recent years, brain drain of another sort seems to have developed among American politicians as many sought to cancel or cut foreign student programs and even expelled or deported recent graduates forcing them to build their companies outside of our borders instead of inside them.

These are not the entrepreneurs, professionals, medical and technological innovators who are going to TAKE our jobs, they are the entrepreneurs, professionals, medical and technological innovators who are going to CREATE our jobs.

Inherent bias

Some might argue that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is biased.

Or that I am.

Yes, that is certainly true. I and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are heavily biased in terms of increased opportunity, prosperity and stability of our society and economy.

What we believe is that what WILL make our economy strong is what has always made it strong; encouraging, even welcoming, those whose vision and energy can find a home here even if it might not anywhere else.

Unlike those politicians who seem to have failed Econ 101, I want the brain drain to work for us and not against us.

If you want to see more on how immigration impacts local communities and economies, look here: https://www.uschamber.com/series/above-the-fold/why-immigration-reform-matters-local-communities-0?.

See more here:
Immigration: the issue that makes us crazy - Tacoma Daily News