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Dear Allies,
Yesterday, Senator Menendez and Representative Sánchez introduced the House and Senate versions of the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021. This bill builds on President Biden’s plans to build a more just and welcoming immigration system, including creating a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants. The bill creates a pathway to citizenship for qualifying undocumented immigrants, by establishing a transitional “Lawful Prospective Immigrant” status giving them work authorization and making them eligible to apply for a “green card,” and then for United States citizenship.
While there is much to applaud in the bill, PIF is disappointed that the bill denies immigrants holding LPI status access to health care and human services programs, including subsidies under the ACA, and most would remain subject to the five year waiting period after getting their green cards. While we all share the disappointment that the bill falls short in providing access to critical benefits, we know that organizations may differ in how they balance this disappointment against the benefits of the bill. PIF’s full statement is available here. NILC’s statement is available here. CLASP’s statement is available here.
We’ll be sharing more detailed analysis of the legislation from PIF and our partners in the coming days and weeks. Moving forward, we plan to work with congressional leadership to strengthen the bill or any future bills creating pathways to status to ensure that all immigrants and their families have access to the support and services they need.
One way to get involved is to sign your organization on to the sign-on statement that the PIF team has developed in response to the immigration bill, highlighting the need to increase immigrant access to benefits. We encourage organizations at the local, state, and national level to sign on as soon as possible.
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