Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto joined 19 of her Senate colleagues in a letter calling on President Joe Biden to take executive action to keep families together and protect DREAMers, undocumented children, and spouses of U.S. citizens. The letter comes as the Biden Administration is reportedly considering executive actions on immigration after Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan deal to strengthen border security and reform our broken asylum system. The letter outlines recommendations for executive actions to streamline immigration relief for long-term noncitizen residents and DACA recipients.
“We urge your Administration to take all available actions to streamline pathways to lawful status for undocumented immigrants, providing certainty to the American businesses, communities, and families who rely on them. In 2019 alone, undocumented immigrants contributed an estimated $9.7 billion in federal and state taxes and over $11 billion in social security contributions. Over 1.1 million U.S. citizens are married to an undocumented immigrant, and roughly 4.9 million U.S. citizen children have at least one undocumented parent. Deporting all such individuals—as former President Donald Trump has threatened to do if reelected —would devastate the American economy and destroy American families,” the senators said.
In their letter, the senators recommend the following executive actions:
- Streamlining the process for DACA recipients to update their status and making it easier for DREAMers to obtain employee-sponsored green cards;
- Allowing spouses of American citizens to get work permits while their green card cases are pending, and reducing processing times for visa applications;
- Modernizing cancellation of removal rules and increasing access to permanent resident status for caregivers in order to keep families together.
In addition to Cortez Masto, the letter is signed by U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
Full text of the letter is available HERE.
The first and only Latina Senator, Senator Cortez Masto has consistently pushed to fix our broken immigration system by balancing critical border security measures with a path to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, and essential workers. She’s also called on the Biden administration to prioritize additional resources to stop the flow of illicit drugs like fentanyl through ports of entry along the border.
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