NNIRR Statement on Budget Reconciliation: Pathway to Citizenship for ALL

Demand a Clean Pathway to Citizenship for ALL in Final Budget Reconciliation!

Dear members & colleagues of NNIRR,

Both the Senate and House have now passed a budget resolution package that finally puts on the table the much needed, long awaited path to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, farm workers, and essential workers.

Unfortunately, this bill includes harmful exclusions and border enforcement provisions that are detrimental to our communities. We have waited for more than 30 years for a legislative solution to regularization —we know we can get this right if we fight for a pathway that provides relief for all!

During the Senate “vote-a-rama” process before the final party-line vote, Republicans proposed hundreds of racist and anti-immigrant amendments to the final bill. While just three of them passed, the political theater involved in proposing these amendments was deceitful and intentionally perpetuated racism, xenophobia and criminalization. The exclusionary language in the bill directly targets black and brown migrants who have been impacted, disproportionately, by an unjust and discriminatory criminal justice system.

We must vigorously pressure Congress to remove all exclusionary and damaging security provisions that have taken the lives of thousands of migrants and refugees on the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. It is time to recognize that militarism and militarization policies endanger the lives of people in migration and exacerbate the arbitrary and systematic denial of civil rights experienced by border residents. Everyday, border communities face daily threats of racial profiling, violence, and human rights abuses perpetrated by the unaccountable border enforcement agencies.

As the bill moves through a mark-up committee process, we raise our voices and demand a clean pathway to citizenship, one without criminal bars, additional funding for detention, expedited deportations, or increased border militarization.

We call upon immigrant rights organizations, human rights leaders, and activists to demand a clean pathway to citizenship to bring relief to the 11 million undocumented migrants, many of whom are essential workers and have cared for and fed our nation throughout this pandemic.

We call upon legislators to pass a final bill that is fair, protects human rights, and allows migrants to regularize their immigration status with an expedited process towards residency and citizenship.

We hope you will join us in a call for a clean pathway to citizenship for all.

With gratitude for your partnership,

NNIRR