(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Roxana Norouzi, Executive Director of OneAmerica—one of the largest immigrant and refugee advocacy organizations in Washington state—hosted a Twitter Live on the urgent need for a pathway to citizenship for all. During the Twitter Live, Senator Murray laid out her priorities on building a pathway to citizenship for all, and discussed the legislative and parliamentary processes that will be required to include immigration reform in the upcoming reconciliation package, as well as the positive economic impact it would have for Washington state and the country.
“Because of our country’s broken immigration system, millions are forced to live in the shadows as Americans in all but name. Families and businesses alike are trapped in a broken system that isn’t working for anyone. I have long believed that the way to fix this is to adopt immigration reform legislation that offers a fair pathway to citizenship for the more than 11 million undocumented residents living here, including DREAMers, farmworkers, those with temporary protected status, and the many essential, undocumented workers who do so much to keep our country running, especially during the pandemic,” said Senator Murray. “We have a historic opportunity to press forward on immigration reform through the budget process. We want to be as expansive as we can be on immigration reform—it’s time to finally get this done.”
“Workers cannot be both essential and deportable. Congress must act now because our immigrant communities have waited far too long,” said Roxana Norouzi, Executive Director of OneAmerica.
Senator Murray has been a longtime advocate for immigration reform throughout her entire Senate career. Earlier this year, Senator Murray made clear that she would pursue every avenue to achieve a pathway to citizenship for all, including budget reconciliation. Senator Murray is also a cosponsor of the Dream and Promise Act which would establish a path to citizenship for Dreamers and immigrants with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or Deferred Enforced Departure (DED). After a federal judge recently ruled DACA unlawful, Murray blasted the decision as cruel and reiterated her resolve to press forward on immigration reform.
According to the Center for American Progress, providing a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, farmworkers, and essential workers would boost GDP by a cumulative total of $1.5 trillion over 10 years, create over 400,000 new jobs, and increase the annual wages of the average American worker by $600. Undocumented immigrants would also contribute an added $149 billion of spending power each year if they were U.S. citizens. This added income could result in an additional $39 billion in combined federal, payroll, state, and local taxes each year. A reconciliation bill with a path to citizenship included will have large-scale economic benefits for all Americans.