LULAC Welcomes Immigration Proposal To Open New Debate

Nation’s Oldest and Largest Latino Civil Rights Organization Says Proposed Legislation Addresses Both Immediate and Root Cause Aspects for Wider Support

Washington, DC - The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) said the Citizenship Act of 2021 introduced by Congressional Democratic leaders Thursday is a comprehensive and solid approach.

“This is a good first step in the long journey for social justice and fairness in our broken immigration system,” said Domingo Garcia, LULAC National President. “What we have seen so far includes some of the crucial points that we need including pathways to citizenship and stronger protections for non-citizen men and women. Many of them are the essential workers who are getting sick the most from COVID and dying right now. Even dropping the use of the word ‘alien’ is important to LULAC because terms like ‘illegal alien’ or ‘illegals’ are terms used to dehumanize families and justify brutal acts of abuse and ICE enforcement,” added Garcia.

Included in the central provisions of the proposed immigration proposal are: an 8-year path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. by Jan. 1, an expedited path to citizenship for farm workers and undocumented young people who arrived in the U.S. as children with temporary protected status under DACA, raises the per-country caps on family and employment-based legal immigration numbers, and repeals the penalty that prohibits undocumented immigrants who leave the country from returning to the U.S. for between three to ten years.

“LULAC is encouraged by the proposal introduced by Representative Linda T. Sanchez (D-CA) in the House and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) in the Senate,” said Sindy Benavides, LULAC National Chief Executive Officer. “While we are concerned over some of the enforcement provisions, we look forward to working with Members of Congress to improve this bill. Clearly, polls show that most Americans want a resolution that fixes a dysfunctional immigration system and also allows our country to benefit from a willing workforce for a strong economic recovery,” she added.

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About LULAC
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 1,000 councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit https://lulac.org/