A broad coalition of faith, business, agriculture, education, national security and advocacy organizations call for Congress to urgently act.
Washington, D.C. (Oct. 5, 2022) – In response to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upholding a lower court’s ruling that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is illegal, the Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus (ANIC) calls for Congress to take immediate action to provide legal permanency for immigrants who were brought to America while children.
Without congressional intervention, America is still at risk of losing hundreds of thousands of essential workers who have legally been working in frontline industries, and families are at risk of being separated.
“Democrats and Republicans should take swift action this year on border and immigration solutions that have the support of a supermajority of American voters,” the ANIC’s 35-plus coalition members said in a joint statement. “For more than two decades, Congress has introduced bipartisan, bicameral solutions to provide pathways for Dreamers to earn legal permanency in America with the support of American voters, yet nothing has crossed the finish line. Now the clock has run out and the situation is dire as our nation faces historic inflation, a troubled supply chain, and labor shortages. In light of the courts’ continued rulings on DACA, the burden remains on Congress to act.”
For decades, we have invested in Dreamers who are eager to remain contributing members of their communities. Over 427,000 undocumented students are pursuing higher education and are now poised to give back to their communities. Yet, despite their contributions and ability to provide a needed solution to workforce shortages, the majority of these students are not eligible for DACA, in part because of legal challenges.
Even across party lines, the American people can largely agree on one thing: they want both order at the U.S.-Mexico border and legal immigration reforms this year.
On February 28, the National Immigration Forum published a nationwide poll that found 8 in 10 voters want common-sense solutions in 2022, before the midterm elections, that include border security, an opportunity to earn legal status and citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children, and a legal, reliable workforce for America’s farmers and ranchers.
American sentiment has largely remained steady. On August 29, the Forum in partnership with Americans For Prosperity published a new nationwide poll that found more than 70% across ideological groups support “Republicans and Democrats working together this year on improving legal immigration options that could address labor shortages and reduce pressures at the border.”
About the Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus
The Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus (ANIC) is a public coalition of faith, business, agriculture, education, national security and advocacy organizations working to build support for bipartisan legislative solutions that strengthen border security as well as provide permanent legal protections and other reforms for Dreamers, TPS recipients and agricultural workers in 2022. To learn more about ANIC’s efforts, visit www.anic.co.