LCLAA Urges Senators to Make Good on Election Promises and Create a Path to Citizenship for Undocumented Workers
MEDIA STATEMENT
December 17, 2021
Contact: Pablo Stein
pstein@lclaa.org | (202) 508-6989
WASHINGTON - On December 16th, the Senate parliamentarian defied precedent by recommending against the inclusion of immigration proposals in the Build Back Better Act. Nevertheless, the Senate retains the full legal authority to include a path to citizenship, as most Democratic Senators vowed to do, including Senators Schumer, Garcia, and Espilat.
LCLAA urges Senate Democrats to make good on their campaign promises and create a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the US. In doing so, they will not only be accountable to the constituents who elected them, but they will also oblige the majority of likely voters in the US who support a path to citizenship.
“Documentation and protections for undocumented immigrants are critical to upholding worker’s rights because employers frequently use immigration status to intimidate and retaliate against workers,” said LCLAA National President Yanira Merino.
When employers rely on exploiting immigrant labor, they prompt a “race to the bottom” with regards to working conditions in their entire industry. Labor rights for all can only be achieved when workers are on equal footing, which is why citizenship for undocumented workers benefits all American workers.
Moreover, the immigrant’s whose stability and rights are in question have contributed immensely to American society and the national economy over the years and decades they have worked here. If Democratic Senators value the health of American communities, they must pass a broad path to citizenship in the Build Back Better Act.
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The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) is the leading national organization for Latino(a) workers and their families. LCLAA was born in 1973 out of the need to educate, organize and mobilize Latinos in the labor movement and has expanded its influence to organize Latinos in an effort to impact workers' rights and their influence in the political process. LCLAA represents the interest of more than 2 million Latino workers in the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), The Change to Win Federation, independent unions and all their affiliate unions. Visit LCLAA on the web at www.lclaa.org, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.