Immigration
America is a nation of immigrants; it always has been and always will be. I’m proud of my heritage, including ancestors from Cameroon, Ireland and Ukraine.
While our nation has a proud immigrant heritage, our current immigration system is not working. President Obama sought to improve our immigration system by implementing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012. Today, I support the American Dream and Promise Act which would grant DACA recipients, or DREAMers, permanent resident status. DREAMers arrived in the United States as children and have known no other country as home. I fully support all DREAMers.
I also support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants that contribute to our economy and society everyday. This is why I support the U.S. Citizenship Act which creates a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants under a new status, called the Lawful Prospective Immigrant Status. This new status allows immigrants to live and work in the United States, travel and be readmitted, and secure important documents like social security cards. After 5 years as a Lawful Prospective Immigrant, people are eligible for lawful permanent residence status if they pass the necessary background checks and pay their taxes. This bill also provides a path to citizenship for DACA recipients and additional protections for LGBTQ+ partners of US citizens and Lawful Prospective Immigrants. Finally, this act would eliminate the one-year deadline for filing asylum and provide funding to reduce asylum application backlogs. The U.S. Citizenship Act provides for comprehensive and desperately-needed reforms to our immigration system.
Additional immigration bills that I support include:
- The Improving Access for Afghan Refugees Act
- This bill designates Afghans who are at risk of persecution, including human rights defenders, civil servants, officials, journalists, women activists, and judicial workers, as a Priority 2 group of special humanitarian concern for refugee processing. This status removes barriers to accessing the U.S. refugee system by allowing individuals to seek resettlement in the United States without a third party referral.
- The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act
- This bill mandates that all detained immigrants have access to a custody hearing in front of an immigration judge. This bill also stops family detention, solitary confinement, and requires the Department of Homeland Security to establish civil detention standards and creates a meaningful inspection process at detainment facilities.
- The American Right to Family Act
- This bill directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant lawful temporary residence status to the parents of American citizens as long as the parents have lived in the United States for over 10 years. The parents of children who were brought to the U.S. under the age of 16 are also eligible, as long as they have lived in the United States for over 10 years. This status is valid for three years and there is no limit to the number of renewals.
- The National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act
- The NO BAN Act repeals travel bans implemented by the Trump Administration that separated families and unfairly targeted refugees and Muslim and African immigrants. This bill also strengthens the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion and prevents future presidents from enacting discriminatory bans, such as the Muslim ban implemented by President Trump in January 2017.