El Paso, Texas (KTSM) — Civic leaders and U.S Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, urged President Joe Biden to expand work authorization for long-term immigrants residing in the United States, mixed status families and DACA recipients or Dreamers.
They made the plea during a Zoom press conference on Tuesday, April 9.
Undocumented migrants also voiced their frustration, fears and concerns over their work permit status during the event.
Juan Carlos Cerda, the Texas state director with the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC), a bipartisan organization across the nation that advocates for immigration reforms, said expanding work permits would strengthen the U.S economy.
“Expanding work authorization opportunities is common sense, and it will tamp down inflation. It is good economics; we have 9.5 million open jobs in the United States. It is good politics; 10.6 million U.S citizens throughout the country live in a mixed status family,” Cerda said.
Woody L. Hunt, a board member with ABIC, says long-term undocumented immigrants, including immigrant spouses of U.S citizens and DACA students, known as Dreamers, have been paying taxes and living in the U.S for years, and the expansion of work authorization would help address the labor shortages in Texas, allowing undocumented migrants to work legally and fill the gaps in the labor force.
“More than 781,000 positions across Texas remain unfilled. Meanwhile, according to recent surveys, Texas is home to more than 1.6 million individuals, who although have been living here for many years, are not authorized to participate in the local job force or contribute economically to our communities across the state,” Hunt said.
Dreamer Yolanda Betts was one of the undocumented migrants who spoke during the news conference. Betts, originally from Guatemala, aspires to be a nurse. She said she has tried twice to apply for DACA status but the uncertainty over the program has kept her undocumented.
Under the DACA program, children who came into the country illegally with their parents are protected from being deported. But there has been over a decade of uncertainty surrounding the program.
“My undocumented status has since prevented me from securing legal employment.” Betts said. “Right now my biggest dream is to be able to work as a nurse and care for Texans, but without a work permit, I cannot.”
“I’m petrified about possibly being a target or arrested and deported if SB-4 were to take effect,” Betts said.
Republican Irene Armendariz Jackson, who is running against Escobar for Congress in District 16, said expanding work permit authorizations for undocumented migrants would not be beneficial to communities. Armendariz-Jackson said she comes from a family where her father was a construction worker and had to leave El Paso multiple times.
“The illegals would come in and underbid his job,” Armendariz Jackson said. “That is exactly what it is going to do to the American worker. It’s going to devalue their job.”
Addressing the specific impact on cities like El Paso, Armendariz Jackson said it would flood the labor market with additional workers.
“We’re going to hurt Americans, especially in a city like El Paso, where the wages are very low. The median income is one of the lowest in the nation. And now we’re going to flood the market with labor,” Armendariz Jackson said. “I want to make sure that the American worker, even the legal immigrant that is not even a citizen but is here legally should be protected because they followed the process.”
Cerda said if people are interested in advocating for work permit expansions, contact local elected officials like city council representatives, county commissioner and state representatives.
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