Archives

A Pathway to Citizenship for Immigrant Essential Workers 

July 15, 2021 – This week, Democrats in the U.S. Senate announced that a pathway to citizenship would be included in the upcoming budget reconciliation package. On Friday, July 16, at 2:00 p.m. Senator Smith, Unidos MN, the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM), the Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL), and other organizations will hold a joint press conference at Mercado Central (1515 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55407) highlighting Senator Smith’s support for passing a pathway to citizenship for essential workers through budget reconciliation.  

WHO:  

  • Senator Tina Smith, D-MN 
  • Veena Iyer, Immigrant Law Center or Minnesota 
  • Emilia Gonzalez Avalos, UnidosMN
  • Jenny Srey, Coalition of Asian American Leaders 

WHAT: Press conference supporting a pathway to citizenship for immigrant essential workers 

WHERE: 1515 E Lake St., Minneapolis, MN 55407 

WHEN: 2 p.m. 

Budget reconciliation is a process that provides a narrow path to passing some types of legislation with a simple majority. It’s a process that is used by both parties on a regular basis and it offers a path forward. A reconciliation bill that includes citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, farm workers and other essential workers will boost economic growth, create jobs and increase wages for all Americans. 

More than 5 million undocumented immigrants have been risking their lives as “essential workers” during the worst public health crisis in our lifetime. More than two-thirds of all undocumented immigrant workers serve in frontline jobs in essential industries—healthcare, home care, transportation, agriculture, food production, construction and other industries. 

“It’s time for We the People to truly include all of us,” said Emilia Gonzalez Avalos, executive director of Unidos MN. “Lawmakers supporting immigrants should use every ounce of their power to ensure that citizenship for immigrant workers and families is part of the budget reconciliation process.”  

“It is a moral failure that today, in the United States, millions of immigrant workers are considered both ‘essential’ and ‘deportable,’” said Veena Iyer, executive director of ILCM. “Congress must act now to protect individuals with temporary protected status and the millions of Dreamers and immigrant workers who lack a pathway to permanent legal status and citizenship.” 

Essential workers without permanent legal status should be recognized as the Americans they already are. They have been there for all of us. Now it’s time for all of us to be there for them. 

Minnesota Legislature Votes to Support Immigrant Survivors of Crime 

June 30, 2021 – This morning, the Minnesota legislature passed the Public Safety Omnibus Bill which, among other provisions, ensures consistency and transparency in the treatment of immigrant survivors of crime by local law enforcement. The bill now goes to the Governor, who is expected to sign it shortly.   

Immigrant survivors of crime are often hesitant to seek assistance from law enforcement because of fear of deportation. The federal government therefore created the U visa, which allows immigrant survivors to obtain immigration protection if they are helpful in the investigation and/or prosecution of the crime. To obtain a U visa—which usually takes more than five years—an immigrant survivor must first obtain a certification from law enforcement. Unfortunately, there have been too many instances of law enforcement officials in Minnesota failing to respond to requests for certification, leaving immigrant survivors living in fear. 

The U visa certification bill sets deadlines for certification decisions and requires law enforcement agencies to identify a U visa certification point person, implement language access protocols, and refrain from disclosing the immigration status of survivors except where required by law. 

“We are thrilled that immigrant survivors in Minnesota will now encounter consistent policies and receive timely decisions on U visa certification requests regardless of where they were victimized,” said ILCM executive director Veena Iyer. “Immigrant survivors of crime need and deserve the protection offered through U visas. We now look to Governor Walz to sign this bill into law and make our criminal justice system more supportive to immigrant survivors.” 

Tell President Biden to Protect Afghans Who Worked for the United States

Tens of thousands of Afghans who worked for the U.S. military—and their families—are in danger of Taliban retaliation as U.S. troops pull out. With rising COVID infections in Afghanistan, the U.S. Embassy suspended visa processing in early June, stranding visa applicants whose work with U.S. forces puts their lives and their families in danger.

Contact President Biden today and tell him to evacuate Afghans whose work for the United States puts them and their families in danger.

The New York Times reported on their plight recently:

“’I get phone calls from the Taliban saying, ‘We will kill you’ — they know who I am and that I worked for the Americans,’ Mr. Walizada said. He has delayed marriage because he does not want to put a wife at risk, he said, and he has moved from house to house for safety….

“More than 18,000 Afghans are awaiting decisions on their S.I.V. applications, according to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Many say they are seized by dread, fearing they will be denied, or approved only after they have been hunted down and killed.”

The Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program lets Afghans who worked with the U.S. for two years move to the U.S. with their spouse and children. The application process is long and complicated. Apart from those waiting to apply, a backlog of 18,000 applications are waiting to be processed.

It is time to evacuate these Afghan nationals and their families before the final U.S. troop withdrawal—something the U.S. government has done previously when winding down military operations in Vietnam, Iraq, and Kosovo. They cannot wait inside Afghanistan for lengthy visa processing. We owe it to our allies who served alongside our troops and diplomats to protect them.

Bipartisan groups of Senate and House members have called on the Biden administration to prioritize the protection of Afghan allies. There’s no time to delay – the Biden administration must act now to evacuate these Afghans to a place of safety while their applications are being processed.

Contact President Biden today and tell him to evacuate Afghans whose work for the United States puts them and their families in danger.

Sample message:

Afghan nationals who have worked with U.S. troops and diplomats are in danger. The Special Immigrant Visa process is slow and has a backlog of more than 18,000 applications. We need to honor our commitment to these allies and evacuate them NOW, with their families, to a safe place. This is a moral and humanitarian imperative.