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Espaillat, Barragán, Menendez Tout CHC Immigration Priorities for Second Session of 118th Congress
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, CHC Deputy Chair Adriano Espaillat and Rep. Rob Menendez, who serve as co-chairs of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Immigration Task Force, along with Chair Nanette Barragán, announced the CHC Immigration Principles for the second session of the118th Congress. These principles will guide the work of the CHC as the caucus continues its collective efforts to create and promote immigration reform initiatives that strengthen the nation's values of welcoming immigrants.
“These principles highlight the CHC's steadfast resolve to enact effective and humane comprehensive immigration policies that address the root causes of migration while treating immigrants with the dignity and compassion expected from America on the world stage,” said Chair Nanette Barragán. “The CHC will continue to work with the Biden administration, Congressional leadership, and state and local leaders, to advance necessary reform efforts that will strengthen our nation’s border security and ensure an equitable and accessible immigration system for all.”
“To whom much is given, much is required. As leaders of the CHC, we understand the breadth of what is at stake for the immigrant families seeking asylum here in America,” said CHC Deputy Chair Espaillat. “As Co-Chair of the CHC Task Force on Border and Immigration, I am proud to announce today’s rollout of our immigration priorities. The CHC is making clear our support of immigrants and reaffirming our actions to ensure our nation remains a beacon of hope and freedom for families now and future generations.”
“Our broken immigration system has long been inconsistent with our American values and interests,” said CHC Immigration Task Force Co-Chair Rob Menendez. “Alongside Chair Barrágan and Immigration Task Force Co-Chair Espaillat, I am honored to release the CHC’s Immigration Principles which provide a framework for reforms that would restore compassion and order to our immigration system. These principles reflect the CHC’s longstanding work on behalf of immigrant communities, and we will continue to fight for fair and humane immigration policies.”
The CHC Task Force issued a four-pillar framework consisting of 18 policy proposals highlighting the CHC’s efforts to engage, promote, and create strategies to support immigrants that include the following:
Immigration reform
Within this framework, the CHC reaffirms its support to:
• Protect America’s Dreamers and DACA Recipients by continuing to urge the Biden Administration to establish new processes to inform DACA recipients.
• Create family reunification parole programs for additional countries to assist with backlogs.
• Fund community-based case management programs that decrease immigrant detention providing alternatives that are more cost effective and humane.
• Increase funding for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for asylum processing, and legal representation programs for adults and guarantee access to counsel for asylum seekers in federal custody and increase.
• Provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented individuals in the United States and its territories.
Immigration, Jobs, and the Economy
Within this framework, the CHC vows to boost the American economy which is supported by the immigrant working class by:
• Advance protections for agricultural workers through the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2023 to provide more flexibility for employers while ensuring critical protections for workers.
• Granting redesignations of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for recently arrived immigrants and streamline TPS processes, to advance protections and work permits for vulnerable populations.
• Facilitate access to work authorization for newly arrived immigrants to reduce wait periods for work authorizations, expand the use of parole, and fund work authorization processing to alleviate burdens on immigrants and communities.
• Update the INA registry cutoff date through H.R. 1511, the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929.
• Secure $10 billion for the Shelter and Services Program to help stabilize families and advance their path to good paying jobs, and ensure migrants, many of whom are families with children, receive necessary lifesaving resources in a timely manner.
Border Safety Issues
Within this framework, the CHC aims to address regional safety to:
• Advance immigration protections through, H.R. 3194, the U.S. Citizenship Act, a key piece of legislation that would make critical reforms to our immigration system including managing the southern border through the use of technology at ports of entry, and updating the immigrant visa system.
• Establish a Humanitarian Visa for Pre-Screened Asylum Seekers.
• Establish an Interagency Task Force to convene interagency engagement consisting of USCIS, FEMA, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to identify ways to reduce the strain on municipalities.
• Expand Minor Reunification through a new external family reunification program for children and young adults under the age of 21 seeking to be reunited with a parent holding legal status in the United States.
• Keep American families together.
Regional Migration Concerns
Within this framework, the CHC aims to address regional concerns to:
• Support regional migration solutions in the Americas including through support for humanitarian aid, nearshoring, access to financing, and energy security for the Western Hemisphere; and other programs aimed at stabilization, regularization programs, migration pathways, and integration initiatives.
• Provide funding to relieve the immigration court backlog and reduce wait times and delays.
• Reduce backlogs for an efficient legal immigration system and remove barriers that hinder American innovation and family reunification.
Read the CHC Immigration Task Force Immigration Principles in their entirety here.
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Representative Espaillat is the first Dominican American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and his congressional district includes Harlem, East Harlem, West Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill and the north-west Bronx. First elected to Congress in 2016, Representative Espaillat is serving his fourth term in Congress. Representative Espaillat currently serves as a member of the influential U.S. House Committee on Appropriations responsible for funding the federal government’s vital activities and serves as Ranking Member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee of the committee during the 118th Congress. He is also a member of the House Budget Committee and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), where he serves in a leadership role as the Deputy Chair as well as Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI). Rep. Espaillat is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) and serves as a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. To find out more about Rep. Espaillat, visit online at https://espaillat.house.gov/.
Media inquiries: Candace Person at [email protected]
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