Put the Papers before the Guns!  Remember the Essentials

Legalization for Essential Workers! 

Congressman Jesus " Chuy " Garcia

On March 10, you participated in passing a bipartisan spending package of 1.5 Trillion dollars which included 13.6 billion dollars for the Ukrainian people under attack in their country for refugee and humanitarian asylum assistance. We realize the vote to get this package across the finish line required splitting the bill into two separate votes. One vote to support the security details of the bill and the second to cover the remaining areas.

We must talk with you about how these votes occurred because as Immigrants like you we are loathe to see the campaign to provide a path to citizenship get lost within the dynamics of this mammoth spending package. We know and admire the work that you have done for the immigrant community within your former roles as Democratic Committeeman, Cook County Commissioner, Alderman of the 22nd Ward and State Senator of the 1st Senate District. Personally I recall being introduced to you by Dr Quentin Young at a back yard party you attended to support Universal Health Care. We recognize you as a strong coalition builder and organizer.

You are a leader within Congressional Hispanic Caucus and in this role I wonder how much time was used to discuss and act upon how this mammoth economic package could be used to further our common goal to secure a just and equitable pathway to citizenship for the 800,000 Dreamers you speak of on your website and for their parents who make up the 12 million here undocumented ? What better time to provide more funding for the Immigration Court system at the Southern border to provide more funding so they can process and move on their asylum backlog ? Did any members of the Hispanic caucus bring up this idea to help the asylum seekers here in our own country? Was there much give and take or was it here this is what is going to happen? Is the Hispanic Caucus a useful organization or is it just a title organization in the house? We organize principally in the Du Page County area and have sent a similar letters expressing our displeasure with this appropriation package to Congressman Casten, and Krishnamoorthi. We see essential frontline working people everyday who were under attack throughout the previous administration and the present who acted only now because now White Europeans are coming to the Souther Border gates and are being given priority entrance because President Joe Biden has created a special emergency pathway for 100,000 Ukrainians.

This select treatment for the White Ukrainians is a slap in the face to the millions who have been waiting longer than 35 years for a pathway to citizenship. I know you are aware there are 12 million frontline essential workers awaiting long needed humanitarian action because of the lack of a coherent immigration policy for the United States. How long must we wait ? Our Brothers and Sisters working as Front-Line Essential Workers throughout the Pandemic in the factories and hospitals, restaurants and slaughter houses and in the fields across America want the same respect and support you have shown the undocumented people of the Ukraine. We deserve the same quick action you and your congressional partners have shown the European refugees who experienced the trauma associated with being chased out from their own country by an armed force. The asylum seekers fleeing from the cartels and the poverty of their home countries induced by the actions of this country on our Southern neighbors are no less deserving.

We have been waiting for 35 years for a promised immigration overhaul that evaporates with the advent of another world crisis which pushes our needs further from the front mind of your consciousness. We are here in the United States within your very district paying taxes struggling and working for a better life for our families. We stayed working the front line jobs during the height of the Covid Pandemic when people were told to stay home and shelter in place. We did not have the option as many around us did to work remotely from home. As immigrants asylum seekers we had no choice but to continue to attend to our jobs because our families needed food to be on our tables. We needed to pay for our gas and utilities to keep ourselves free from the Covid scourge and now the financial support for Covid Programs is evaporating. Immigrants in the USA kept the country functioning suffering with other non-white minority groups in the USA with the highest concentration of Covid deaths because we did not have access to PPE and medical support the majority of white Americans had during this Pandemic that is still knocking at our doors.

Do not forget about the needs and the aspirations of 12 million undocumented souls living in the US. All American and world eyes see the preference being provided Ukrainians entering at the Southern border and the ankle bracelets and electronic monitoring systems placed on the body and souls of our black and brown brothers and sisters who aspire to the same ease of entry and acceptance. Do not continue to ignore the needs of so many here at home while leaping to your feet to support the needs of other immigrants and asylum seekers across an ocean? We support humanitarian relief. We support taking care of our own house first and so should you. Immigrants and asylum seekers, the undocumented, living and working in these United States waiting for 35 years for an immigration policy which does not penalize or make us second class citizens. We expect better treatment for all of our sacrifices and the lives spent waiting for a pathway to citizenship to emerge. We need your support for the undocumented who are arriving here on a daily basis just as quickly as you have jumped to support the European people of Ukraine. We are here clamoring for action vs a promise that is 35 years unfulfilled. Our brothers and sisters deserve a humane and respectful pathway to citizenship. We await your response and meaningful action to embrace the millions waiting in the shadows.

Immigrant Solidarity DuPage