John,

Last night, as I watched President Biden’s State of the Union address, I was encouraged that the president highlighted the current border challenges and the need for immigration reforms. Now more than ever, our country needs the president and Congress to address immigration reforms and pave the way for practical solutions that make America safe, strong and welcoming. We need Congress to take the president up on his offer, when he said, "let’s fix it."

We came close to progress earlier this year, when Senate Republicans and Democrats worked together on a bill that included certainty for our Afghan Allies and so-called "documented Dreamers", as well as reforms to the asylum adjudication process. It ultimately didn’t pass, but this should be the beginning, not the end, of the two parties working together on immigration.  

Public opinion is clear — Americans want leaders who will prioritize working together on immigration and border solutions, not leaders who are divisive and polarizing. In the State of the Union address, and throughout 2024, we are looking for leaders to address immigration reforms and lay the groundwork to enact solutions for a stronger and more welcoming nation.  

With that in mind, and as we already hear the heated rhetoric of the campaigns for president and other offices, the National Immigration Forum has introduced "A Better Way Forward: 2024 Immigration Principles." They reflect our deeply rooted values as a nation. These principles should guide any leader working for an orderly, secure and humane immigration system. 

Add your name to show your support for these immigration principles!

Here they are: 

1. Show compassion and justice to longtime residents, including Dreamers, by allowing them an opportunity to earn lawful status and citizenship. 

Immigrants make countless contributions every day alongside native-born Americans, improving our communities and enriching the fabric of our nation. We need an updated immigration system that creates legal pathways for longtime residents to earn lawful status and continue living in the country they call home. 

2. Continue our moral leadership in the world as a welcoming and compassionate nation that offers refuge to the persecuted. 

In the midst of a global migration crisis, the U.S. faces significant challenges to provide refuge to those fleeing persecution while also maintaining safety and order at our borders. These challenges have demonstrated the need to revisit and modernize our asylum system so that it is secure, efficient and humane. 

3. Honor the human dignity of all people through our words and actions. 

By a 35-point spread in a recent poll, registered voters agree that "language that dehumanizes migrants at U.S. borders contradicts our values and harms efforts by Republicans and Democrats to work together on commonsense solutions." In the most extreme circumstances, language that mimics extremist conspiracy theories such as the Great Replacement Theory has hateful and violent consequences. Our leaders must defend human dignity and push back against such harmful language.  

Leaders must not only speak humanely when discussing immigration, but also enact solutions that prioritize human dignity. Amid stories of family separation and lives lost on the way to the U.S., it is more imperative than ever for leaders to live up to our values as Americans — through words that treat migrants humanely, but also through enacting compassionate policies that honor human dignity. 

Show your support for our leaders to use more constructive rhetoric and craft legislation according to our shared values.

4. Address the need for safety and security on the border and in our communities. Promote community trust and safety by focusing immigration enforcement on threats to public safety and national security and preserving federal leadership in setting immigration enforcement policy. 

Immigration solutions must include secure, humane and just border policies. We know ensuring safety and security both at the border and within our communities is paramount for the well-being of all residents.  

5. Enable fair and orderly legal immigration that continues to solidify our global economic leadership. Modernize laws to reduce backlogs and improve work visa programs for current and future workers. 

Immigrants are vital to the growth of our nation and economy, and we must create a fair and orderly legal immigration system that allows them to continue contributing to our nation.  

6. Defend the longstanding constitutional principle of birthright citizenship. 

Birthright citizenship is a foundational principle of American democracy, as set out in the 14th Amendment. Enacted in the years following the Civil War, this amendment enshrines core American values including due process and equal protection.  

The 14th Amendment is clear: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." 

For more than a century, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that this clause applies to children born on U.S. soil, regardless of the immigration status of their parents. Any effort to undermine birthright citizenship through executive action or legislation runs counter to our constitutional framework and history — not to mention our values. 

Show your support for a conversation around immigration that unifies rather than divides, and to pass the solutions Americans need and want.

Thanks for all you do to build a more constructive conversation around immigration in your community,

Jennie Murray
President & CEO
National Immigration Forum