Congress should act now to offer a path to citizenship for undocumented workers
When we ran for mayor, we made a commitment to our communities to make Raleigh and Durham inclusive, welcoming cities for all our residents, hubs for innovation and entrepreneurship, and examples for cities across America on how to tackle the many challenges facing our communities today.
There is one action Congress can take right now to further these goals and help members of our communities across the state and country: pass legislation to provide citizenship for Dreamers, farmworkers and other essential workers.
The COVID-19 pandemic has only further illuminated what has been true all along. Immigrant workers and families make America better and stronger culturally and economically.
As we continue to recover from this pandemic, the need has never been greater to end the uncertainty millions of undocumented people face across the country and officially weave these essential workers, who call our cities home, into our nation’s fabric through a pathway to citizenship.
In North Carolina alone, there are currently 309,768 undocumented immigrants with an estimated spending power of $6 billion, which has a tremendous impact on our economy.
These are men, women and children who actively contribute to our communities and to our economy while trying to create a life for themselves and their families.
Needless to say, we rely on their investments in Durham and Raleigh for community projects, public school funding, and much, much more. Without the contributions of undocumented workers and their families, our local and state economies would take enormous hits, at a time when we can least afford it.
The types of jobs many undocumented immigrants do keep our communities going strong. It’s estimated that three-fourths of undocumented immigrants in our labor force are classified as essential. These are folks serving food in our restaurants, stocking shelves in our grocery stores, packing meat and produce in our warehouses, and harvesting food for our tables. They are also doctors, nurses, teachers, students, caregivers, and much much more. They are committed to our communities and ingrained in our economies.
During a time of great instability in our economy, our food supply chain and our health care system, they literally risked their lives to provide for their families, their communities and our country during this pandemic. And they continue to lead the way as we start the long process to recover.
Citizenship for these undocumented immigrants is urgently needed. It’s vital for our city and our state. And it’s popular with the American people with nearly 70% of Americans supporting the idea.
These workers and our communities cannot afford to continue waiting.
Continuing to move our cities forward is one of our main goals as mayor. We are as committed as we have ever been to leading cities focused on progress, innovation and compassion for those who need our help the most.
Congress must not stand in the way of these ideals; Congress must pass citizenship. It would help safeguard our communities and economy. And it’s the right thing to do.