(WatchDogReport.org) – President Joe Biden is being urged by Democrats to “streamline” paths for illegal immigrants toward legal status, warning that if former President Donald Trump is reelected, he may trigger mass deportations.
The letter was sent to the president by 18 Democratic senators and one independent senator, Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The letter called on Biden to give certainty to businesses, communities, and families. The senators also stressed the tax contributions of undocumented migrants.
Democratic Colorado Senator Michael Bennet was among those pleading with the president to provide routes to residency and citizenship for illegal immigrants. Bennet, along with Colorado lawmakers, has called on the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to look into delays in renewals of employment authorization for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients.
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman was another Democrat who sent the joint letter to the president. Fetterman has caused some controversy and angered more left-leaning Democratic voters with his call for a stronger border. Fetterman has, however, slated the Republicans for not supporting a bipartisan border deal, stressing that it is possible to both support legal immigration and call for a strong border.
The letter called on the Department of Homeland Security to unite and protect American families and allow spouses of Americans to work abroad while green card applications are pending. It also recommended that the Biden administration update the cancellation of removal rules so family caregivers can be together. According to government data, more than 1% of all social security contributions were from illegal immigrants. However, the study only included Mexican immigrants; the nonprofit Tax Foundation and Census Bureau estimated that illegal immigrants accounted for less than 0.08% of all federal and state taxes in 2019.
The senators stressed in their letter to Biden the prospect of Trump re-entering the White House and what he has threatened to do if re-elected. The letter said Trump’s policies and possible deportation of migrants would both ruin the country’s economy and destroy families. Senators noted that a more streamlined process would allow migrants to check in with the U.S. government regularly and provide their families with stability.
For many Republicans, however, this move just reinforces the common belief that the Left is trying to inflate their voting numbers using migrants.
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