ABIC: President Biden’s Plan for Curbing Inflation Omits Major Part of Solution: Creating Earned Path to Citizenship for Hard Working Immigrant Workers
Proposed immigration solutions are in Build Back Better bill indefinitely stalled in Senate but Biden vows to keep trying on spending measure
WASHINGTON, DC — During a news conference Wednesday marking the end of President Biden’s first year in the White House, Biden laid out a plan for reducing inflation, but the proposal did not include a major part of the solution: legalizing hardworking immigrants who helped sustain the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The immigration measure, approved last fall by the House but hamstrung in the Senate, would allow an estimated seven million people, including millions of Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status holders, and essential workers, to apply for temporary work authorizations and protections from deportation.
Business leaders representing various sectors, from health care to construction, including members of the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC), have urged Congress to enact legalization for immigrants immediately to ease the chronic labor shortages that contribute to inflation.
The following is a statement by ABIC Executive Director Rebecca Shi:
“As President Biden begins his second year in office, we remind him of the urgent need for immigration solutions that would allow hardworking immigrants to earn citizenship so they can help reduce the labor shortages that contribute to inflation and also keep their families together.
“The Onus is on the Democrats — in the White House, and on Capitol Hill — to get an immediate solution enacted for the sake of strengthening our national economic security and families.
“His plan includes campaigning across the country to grow support for his domestic agenda because public opinion polls show strong voter backing, he said. Certainly, proposed enactment of earned citizenship for immigrants gets strong support in polls, from voters across the political spectrum, even past Trump voters, according to an ABIC poll.
“We respectfully urge the President to speak forcefully about immigration solutions that voters want passed. The president also should begin his persuasion tour sooner than later, because businesses desperately need relief and so do immigrant families.”
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