Last week, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough issued advice rejecting immigration provisions in the Build Back Better bill. The current bill includes immigration parole, which would allow many undocumented people access to a work permit and relief from deportation, but no opportunity for permanent status. The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) – a Quaker organization that has worked for decades to improve the U.S. immigration system – applauded Senate leadership’s response that they will use “every means to achieve a path to citizenship in the Build Back Better Act” and joins the Colorado People’s Alliance in calling on Senators Hickenlooper and Bennet to join with leadership, disregard the Parliamentarian’s recommendation and include a pathway to citizenship in the bill.
“This is the third time the parliamentarian has recommended against including immigration provisions in the Build Back Better bill. We remind all our Senators that the parliamentarians’ opinions are not binding and do not outweigh the moral and political responsibility to provide true protections for our communities,” said Lizeth Chacon, Executive Director of the Colorado People’s Alliance.
“We remind all our Senators that the parliamentarians’ opinions are not binding and do not outweigh the moral and political responsibility to provide true protections for our communities.”
Lizeth Chacon, Colorado People’s Alliance
Karina Urrego, AFSC Colorado member leader continued, “I traveled last month to DC to meet with our senators. While we appreciate Senators Hickenlooper and Bennet many previous statements in support of citizenship over this last year. Now it is time for you to fulfill your promises to our communities, and to Colorado, by joining with leadership to ensure a full pathway to citizenship – at a minimum through registry date change – remains in the bill. We are beyond temporary, and we have already earned the right to permanency.”
AFSC, COPA and other organizations across Colorado have been mobilizing to create a pathway to citizenship for all – bringing community members twice to Washington, DC to meet with elected officials, fasting for two months over the summer, calling members of Congress, and holding multiple local events.
“Thousands of people across the U.S. have been tirelessly advocating for a bill that included a timely, clean, clear and inclusive pathway to citizenship for undocumented people in the U.S.,” said Gabriela Flora, Program Director of AFSC Colorado’s Not1More Deportation project “Congress has the opportunity to provide relief to immigrants, including DACA recipients, long-term residents, and the essential workers across the country, who continue to live each day with uncertainty about their future in the United States.”
Current immigration law contains a provision called “registry” that allows certain immigrants who are long-term residents of the United States and who are undocumented or under a temporary immigration status to “register” for Lawful Permanent Resident status. The last time the registry date was updated was in 1986, for certain immigrants who arrived prior to January 1, 1972. The current provisions are a temporary program known as parole-in-place. While it can provide some protection for some immigrants until 2031, it remains a temporary program that excludes many. Missing from the bill is any form of permanent solutions for immigrants.
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) promotes a world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light within each person, we nurture the seeds of change and the respect for human life to fundamentally transform our societies and institutions. For more on AFSC visit afsc.org/denver.
The Colorado People’s Alliance is a racial justice, member-led organization dedicated to advancing and winning progressive social change locally, statewide and nationally. COPA builds power to improve the lives of all Coloradans through leadership development, organizing and alliance building, for more information visit coloradopeoplesalliance.org.
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