WASHINGTON – The Biden administration has announced that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will be expanded for Venezuelans who entered the United States prior to July 31, 2023. ABIC Action celebrates this milestone while encouraging the administration to expand policy to include long-term undocumented immigrants who have been living in this country with their families and contributing to the economy.
Rebecca Shi, Executive Director of ABIC Action, said, “Immigrants are here to work. We should let them. We commend President Biden for heeding our call to action to provide work permits and protection for Venezuelan migrants fleeing persecution, who have come here ready to work and are already making invaluable contributions to our economy and communities. Now, we urge him to use the vast array of tools he already has to expand work authorization to include long-term undocumented immigrants who have worked and sweated for decades for our country without the dignity and stability of a work permit. He can do that by using his existing legal authority under the “Significant Public Benefit” provisions of our current immigration law to expand parole-in-place; broaden the use of Temporary Protected Status redesignation; Deferred Enforced Departure (DED); and parole for the spouses of U.S. citizens.”
Samuel Vilchez Santiago, ABIC Action’s Florida State Director, said, “The expansion and redesignation of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuela is life-changing for hundreds of thousands of families across the country. Like other immigrants, Venezuelans come to the United States to work, filling in critical labor shortages in key industries like construction, hospitality, and healthcare. This policy allows them the opportunity to work legally and contribute to our nation’s economy – an opportunity that should also be provided to those undocumented long-term contributors who have been working for 20 and even 30 years without a path to legalization. Personally, this will help people like my grandmother, who arrived during the COVID pandemic and has not been able to return to Venezuela due to their decaying healthcare conditions, and my aunts and cousins, who recently arrived through the humanitarian parole program. This is a life-changing decision for families like mine.”
Allowing immigrants who come to the United States to work and contribute to the nation’s economy and security benefits immigrants, employers, and the nation as a whole. By allowing undocumented immigrants the opportunity to work legally, employers will be given the workforce they need to keep their businesses running, and even increase production which will help stem inflation, benefiting the American consumer and our communities.
BACKGROUND:
Republican Governors, Democratic members of Congress, state attorneys general, 350 business leaders and employers, and immigration groups have signed letters or publicly stated their ask of President Biden to use existing law to expand workforce authorization for immigrants.
The labor shortage is real. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce noted in a September report, “If every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have about 4 million open jobs.” As the Baby Boomer generation retires, employers nationwide continue to confront extreme labor shortages even though our economy is improving and inflation has slowed down. This is an economic emergency.
Meanwhile, long-term immigrant contributors in our country have been working hard, paying taxes, but functioning in the shadows while waiting for Congress to create a chance for them to apply for workforce authorization. New arrivals wait too long for their own work permits, creating a burden for states and cities.
The number of retirees is increasing at a quicker rate than new workers entering the workforce, marking a significant aging trend in America that will affect our labor market and economy. According to reports from the Congressional Budget Office, there will only be a 3.6% growth in the potential labor force from 2022 to 2031, which is just 1/8 of the growth rate in the 1970s. The growth rate is expected to decelerate further to 2.9% in the following decade. Employers are looking at years of almost no growth in the available workforce.
The continuing gridlock in Washington has prevented comprehensive immigration reforms for decades, and that means President Biden must act to address urgent workforce needs.
ABOUT:
The American Business Immigration Coalition Action (ABIC Action) was created to mobilize the power of American businesses and the general public to promote and advocate for sensible immigration solutions. ABIC Action will develop and advocate for legislation, regulations, and government programs that promote common-sense state and federal immigration reform to benefit the people and economy of our country. ABIC Action operates under federal income tax under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).
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