WASHINGTON, D.C. — Reinforce American values of welcome, compassion, and honoring hard work. Provide for safety and security for Americans and our communities as well as for migrants. Honor well-established law and recognize the need for legal paths and reforms.
These are the themes of the Forum’s “A Better Way Forward: 2024 Immigration Principles,” released today with a video from President and CEO Jennie Murray.
“These principles reflect our deeply rooted values as a nation,” Murray said. “They must and can guide us even amid the rhetoric and politics of an election year.
“The world is watching. Americans want leaders who will work together on real, lasting solutions that combine security and compassion. We need this leadership now, not sometime after the election.
“In the midst of global migration challenges, the United States must continue to lead. A conversation that centers on these principles will help American workers and businesses, strengthen our communities and allow all of us to thrive.”
A Better Way Forward: 2024 Immigration Principles [Watch the video here]:
- Show compassion and justice to longtime residents, including Dreamers, by allowing them an opportunity to earn lawful status and citizenship.
- Continue our moral leadership in the world as a welcoming and compassionate nation that offers refuge to the persecuted.
- Honor the human dignity of all people through our words and actions.
- Address the need for safety and security on the border and in our communities. Promote community trust and safety by focusing immigration enforcement on threats to public safety and national security and preserving federal leadership in setting immigration enforcement policy.
- Enable fair and orderly legal immigration that continues to solidify our global economic leadership. Modernize laws to reduce backlogs and improve work visa programs for current and future workers.
- Defend the longstanding constitutional principle of birthright citizenship.