Espaillat, Barragán, Menendez Tout CHC Immigration Priorities for Second Session of 118th Congress

WASHINGTON, DC — This week, CHC Deputy Chair Adriano Espaillat and Rep. Rob Menendez, who serve as co-chairs of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Immigration Task Force, along with Chair Nanette Barragán, announced the CHC Immigration Principles for the second session of the118th Congress. These principles will guide the work of the CHC as the caucus continues its collective efforts to create and promote immigration reform initiatives that strengthen the nation's values of welcoming immigrants. 

“These principles highlight the CHC's steadfast resolve to enact effective and humane comprehensive immigration policies that address the root causes of migration while treating immigrants with the dignity and compassion expected from America on the world stage,” said Chair Nanette Barragán. “The CHC will continue to work with the Biden administration, Congressional leadership, and state and local leaders, to advance necessary reform efforts that will strengthen our nation’s border security and ensure an equitable and accessible immigration system for all.” 

“To whom much is given, much is required. As leaders of the CHC, we understand the breadth of what is at stake for the immigrant families seeking asylum here in America,” said CHC Deputy Chair Espaillat. “As Co-Chair of the CHC Task Force on Border and Immigration, I am proud to announce today’s rollout of our immigration priorities. The CHC is making clear our support of immigrants and reaffirming our actions to ensure our nation remains a beacon of hope and freedom for families now and future generations.” 

“Our broken immigration system has long been inconsistent with our American values and interests,” said CHC Immigration Task Force Co-Chair Rob Menendez. “Alongside Chair Barrágan and Immigration Task Force Co-Chair Espaillat, I am honored to release the CHC’s Immigration Principles which provide a framework for reforms that would restore compassion and order to our immigration system. These principles reflect the CHC’s longstanding work on behalf of immigrant communities, and we will continue to fight for fair and humane immigration policies.” 

The CHC Task Force issued a four-pillar framework consisting of 18 policy proposals highlighting the CHC’s efforts to engage, promote, and create strategies to support immigrants that include the following:

Immigration Reform 
•     Protect America’s Dreamers and DACA Recipients through Congressional and Executive Action.
•     Create family reunification parole programs for additional countries to assist with backlogs. 
•     Fund community-based case management programs that decrease immigrant detention, providing alternatives that are more cost-effective and humane. 
•     Increase funding for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for asylum processing and legal representation programs for adults and guarantee access to counsel for asylum seekers in federal custody and increase.
•     Provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented individuals in the United States and its territories.
•     Update the Immigration Nationality Act registry cutoff date through H.R. 1511, the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929 - allowing roughly eight million immigrants who have been residing in the U.S. for at least seven years, a chance to obtain their green cards through registry.

Immigration, Jobs, and the Economy
•     Advance protections for agricultural workers through the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2023 to provide more flexibility for employers while ensuring critical protections for workers.
•     Stimulate the economy through H.R. 3194, the U.S. Citizenship Act which clears the employment-based immigrant visa backlog and alleviates lengthy wait times for individuals by eliminating employment-based per-country limits. The bill also makes it easier for foreign students to pursue pathways to stay in the United States after graduation and increases the annual number of immigrant visas from 10,000 to 40,000 for workers in industries such as dairy, meat, poultry processing, and caregiving.
•     Makes it easier for graduates of U.S. universities with advanced STEM degrees to stay in the United States and contribute their expertise to our competitive advantage.
•     Granting redesignations of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for recently arrived immigrants and streamlining TPS processes to advance work permits for vulnerable populations. 
•     Facilitate access to work permits and employment visas.
•     Secure $10 billion for the Shelter and Services Program to help stabilize local economies through jobs 
•     Establish an Interagency Task Force to convene interagency engagement consisting of USCIS, FEMA, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to reduce the strain on municipalities.

Border Safety
•     Advance immigration protections through H.R. 3194, the U.S. Citizenship Act, a key piece of legislation that modernizes the border through the use of technology that enhances our ability to detect contraband and counter transnational criminal networks since illicit drugs are most likely to be smuggled through legal ports of entry.
•     Expand Minor Reunification through a new external family reunification program for children and young adults under the age of 21 seeking to be reunited with a parent holding legal status in the United States. 
 
Regional Migration 
•     Advance immigration protections through H.R. 3194, the U.S. Citizenship Act, a key piece of legislation that addresses the root causes of migration from Central America by funding the President’s 4-year plan to increase assistance to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras conditioned on their ability to reduce the corruption, violence, poverty, and famine that now cause people to flee. 
•     Support regional migration solutions in the Americas, including through support for humanitarian aid, nearshoring, access to financing, and energy security for the Western Hemisphere and other programs aimed at stabilization, regularization programs, migration pathways, and integration initiatives. 
•     Establish a Humanitarian Visa for Pre-Screened Asylum Seekers.
•     Provide funding to relieve the immigration court backlog and reduce wait times and delays.
•     Reduce backlogs for an efficient legal immigration system and remove barriers that hinder American innovation and family reunification.
•     Granting redesignations of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for recently arrived immigrants and streamlining TPS processes to advance protections for vulnerable populations. 

Read the CHC Immigration Task Force Immigration Principles in their entirety here.  

# # #

Representative Espaillat is the first Dominican American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and his congressional district includes Harlem, East Harlem, West Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill and the north-west Bronx. First elected to Congress in 2016, Representative Espaillat is serving his fourth term in Congress. Representative Espaillat currently serves as a member of the influential U.S. House Committee on Appropriations responsible for funding the federal government’s vital activities and serves as Ranking Member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee of the committee during the 118th Congress. He is also a member of the House Budget Committee and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), where he serves in a leadership role as the Deputy Chair as well as Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI). Rep. Espaillat is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) and serves as a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. To find out more about Rep. Espaillat, visit online at https://espaillat.house.gov/.

Media inquiries: Candace Person at Candace.Person@mail.house.gov