[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 171 (Thursday, September 30, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H5561]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             SUPPORTING OVERLOOKED UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Espaillat) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I rise today as I do every day in 
strong support of the millions of undocumented immigrants whose 
contributions to our communities cannot continue to be overlooked.
  We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to provide sound immigration 
reform through reconciliation, and I urge my colleagues to join me in 
prioritizing this timely and long-overdue effort. We must find the 
collective will in this House, in the Senate, and in the White House to 
finally resolve this pending issue.
  The American Dream is for all of us, Madam Speaker. It is for TPS 
recipients. It is for Dreamers. It is for farmworkers and essential 
workers who put their lives on the line during the pandemic.
  How can we build back better without providing real reform for our 
undocumented immigrants? Or are we to abandon a nation of immigrants? 
That is the question.
  Let me be very clear, Madam Speaker: Including immigration reform in 
budget reconciliation is not without any precedent. While the Senate 
Parliamentarian's decisions have not gone our way, we must forge ahead 
and continue to bring solutions to this community.
  If not now, then when? How many times will we be able to tell vital 
members of our communities to wait in line to be treated fairly and 
equally in our country?
  These are our neighbors, Madam Speaker. These are folks who helped us 
through the pandemic. These are the food delivery people who came to 
our homes while we shivered in fear during the pandemic. These are the 
over 400,000 farmworkers who picked the fruits and the vegetables that 
we put on our table during the pandemic. These are the home care 
workers that took care of our very frail seniors, that scrubbed 
themselves clean before they went to work, and when they went back 
home, had to do the same not to infect their children.
  They are heroes. These are American heroes who kept us alive during 
the pandemic.
  This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to pass much-needed 
legislation that reforms our broken immigration system. More than two-
thirds of all undocumented immigrants work in frontline jobs and are 
essential workers in industries such as healthcare, home care, 
transportation, agriculture, food production, and construction, among 
others.
  Including sound immigration reform would advance our economic 
recovery from the pandemic, reduce our national deficit, raise wages, 
add a cumulative $1.5 trillion to the GDP over a decade, and create 
more than 400,000 new jobs.
  President Biden and Vice President Harris have repeatedly 
demonstrated their commitment to pass immigration reform and have 
expressed strong support for including immigration reform in our budget 
reconciliation process. It is also broadly supported by the American 
people.
  Congress has not passed substantial immigration reform in more than 
35 years, Madam Speaker. Due to the Senate filibuster, a cynical 
remnant of Jim Crow, budget reconciliation provides the only glimmer of 
hope that will turn this into a reality.
  It is an unfortunate truth that the other side of the aisle has 
rejected every proposal, Madam Speaker, every single proposal, and 
obstructed every single piece of immigration reform legislation that we 
have put forward. The filibuster has once again blocked our progress 
every step of the way.
  For decades, we have failed to sign into law permanent legislative 
solutions to this problem. Budget reconciliation is the only tool we 
now have available.
  Millions of immigrants in our country have lived their lives in fear 
and uncertainty for far too long. They are counting on us to get this 
done, and I am committed to making it happen. I will always stand 
behind asylum seekers, refugees, and families who come to this country 
to make a better life for themselves, just as I once did. That is the 
promise of America, Madam Speaker.

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