The Coalition on Human Needs Strongly Supports the Biden Administration’s Actions to Protect Immigrant Families and Workers
Editor’s note: The following statement was released by Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs:
“The Coalition on Human Needs applauds the Biden Administration’s announcement of administrative actions aimed at protecting families with an undocumented spouse and allowing certain DACA recipients and other Dreamers to receive work visas more quickly. These measures reflect a significant step toward creating a more humane, organized, and fair process for those seeking to build their lives in America. It serves the national interest by keeping families together and allowing families and communities to benefit from the work that these long-term residents can contribute to our economy.
“It was fitting that the Biden Administration announced these initiatives during the White House event commemorating the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The nation needs a more far-reaching expansion of legal status and a pathway to citizenship for DACA-eligible people and other immigrants, but with some in Congress standing in the way of such progress, the Biden Administration has taken a very important step. The Administration unveiled a plan to utilize parole authority to safeguard approximately 500,000 spouses of U.S. citizens who have resided in the U.S. for at least 10 years, including eligible DACA recipients, from the threat of deportation. This plan also offers them work authorization and a potential route to permanent residency and citizenship, without forcing them to leave their families and this country. This initiative will help keep families united, streamline the process for legal status for long-standing immigrants, and will benefit about 50,000 children with parents married to a U.S. citizen. This significant step forward is the culmination of years of persistent advocacy by organizations at the national, state, and local levels, dedicated to keeping families and communities intact and pushing for lasting protections for millions of immigrants residing and contributing to the United States.
“In addition, the Biden Administration announced improvements to the employment visa system designed to help DACA recipients and other Dreamers with post-secondary degrees and job offers from U.S. employers in their fields. These changes aim to provide these individuals with a more secure status through quicker access to employment-based visas.
“Parents who have lived in this country for a decade or more, and Dreamers who have gained the education here to enable them to make economic contributions to this country, deserve a pathway to legal status. The Coalition on Human Needs strongly supports these constructive steps by the Biden Administration to keep families together and to allow skilled individuals to work.”
The Coalition on Human Needs is an alliance of national organizations representing people of faith, human service providers, labor, civil rights, and other policy experts and advocates concerned with improving economic security, opportunity, and justice for people with low incomes, reducing racial, ethnic, and gender disparities, and better meeting the needs of all age groups and people with disabilities.
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