Friend,

On Thursday I introduced the bicameral U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, a bill that will help us reimagine immigration in this county, a 30 year long awaited update.

When President Biden took office, he made a commitment to not only roll back the cruel and inhumane immigration practices led by the Trump administration, but to help rethink our policies. Awful policies like brutally separating families at the border and mass deportations, in favor of an immigration system with dignity at its core. 

As the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, I know what happens when people come in search of a better life and how that life can not only change a community but also our economy. Those seeking citizenship have so much to offer our nation, and even in the face of the Trump administration, they’ve remained hopeful. 

That’s why I introduced a bill that believes the immigration process should be orderly, fair, and just. 

The bicameral U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 will provide millions of hardworking, undocumented immigrants with a pathway to earned citizenship, including Dreamers and Temporary Protective Status (TPS) recipients. But it will also create a pathway for essential workers who have made enormous sacrifices during the pandemic.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, essential workers continued to risk their lives during this crisis so that our communities would continue to function. We owe these brave workers a clear path towards citizenship for the work they’ve done and continue to do for our nation. 

Only Congress can help the 11 million undocumented immigrants gain a path towards citizenship, and as the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus’s Immigration Task Force, we see a clear way there.

Together we can help reimagine the immigration policies of this country, and I believe that with cooperation and the help of the Biden administration, we can be the change we wish to see. 

As always, I will continue to work for you.

-- Yvette