For over a year, the Biden administration has been using a humanitarian parole program to grant work permits to hundreds of thousands of immigrants who recently arrived from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua. But immigrants who have been living in the country longer, many paying taxes, say it’s time for them to receive work authorization as well.
At a press conference on Tuesday (14), organized by the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC), Latino politicians, business leaders, and those directly affected by the issue argued in favor of immigrants.
The conference took place after the circulation of a letter signed by 150 elected Latino officials at the state and local levels, urging Biden to extend work authorization to ‘Dreamers’ ineligible for DACA due to their age; undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens; and long-time undocumented immigrants. Advocates are calling for an executive action that would extend the federal ‘Parole in Place’ program, which currently only grants work permits to undocumented spouses of U.S. military members.
The ABIC, a coalition of over 1,400 business associations and companies advocating for immigration reform, has been pushing for this campaign for nearly a year. It has gained momentum in the last two months due to the elections and economic urgency, said Rebecca Shi, executive director of ABIC. “We continue to have the same problem of high inflation, and this is caused by this persistent labor shortage,” Shi said. “We have very low unemployment, but there are still 3.1 million jobs open. And so, this is also a solution to the economic struggles that Americans face every day.”
Source: The Guardian