An invitation to elected leaders from across the Commonwealth from towns and cities to Beacon Hill. 

We, the elected officials of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, are calling on our national leaders to thoughtfully consider the inclusion of a Pathway To Citizenship as they build a COVID-19 reconciliation package.

Within this plan for economic renewal, it is critical to consider essential immigrant workers, Dreamers, and TPS holders, as well as their families, in order to ensure a full and sound recovery that is inclusive and equitable for all Americans regardless of their immigration status. 

Throughout the Commonwealth and across our nation, essential immigrant workers have been, and will continue to be, key to the health and safety of all Americans during the pandemic and remain critical for the economic recovery of the country. As we continue to confront a public health and economic catastrophe that has exacerbated deep racial, gender, and economic inequities, it is vital that we include protections for immigrant workers to secure the health of our nation and lay the foundation for a robust economy. 

An estimated five million undocumented immigrants, including 202,500 DACA recipients and 131,300 TPS holders, are serving our country everyday as essential workers. They are providing health care as doctors, nurses, and home health aides, and keeping health care settings safe and open as custodians, food servers, and administrative workers. They are protecting the nation’s food security, from working on farms and food processing facilities, to working in grocery stores and restaurants. They are serving as first responders and teachers. Undocumented essential workers have stepped up to serve our country in a time of crisis and should be able to apply for U.S. citizenship. 

The inclusion of protections and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented essential workers and their families would boost economic output and increase average wages for all workers, while playing an important role in addressing the disproportionate impact that the pandemic has had on communities of color. A 2013 study by the Center for American Progress found that providing a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants would increase cumulative U.S. Gross Domestic Product over 10 years by as much as $1.4 trillion. The study also showed that there would be a  cumulative increase in the income of all Americans by up to $791 billion, and create as many as 203,000 jobs each year over that same period. A pathway to citizenship for undocumented essential workers would raise the wage floor and in turn benefit all workers, beyond direct beneficiaries. The inclusion of these protections is not just a necessity for economic recovery, it is an issue of economic and racial justice for communities that have been the most vulnerable to the crisis and left out of previous relief packages.

By signing here today I am standing in support of establishing a Pathway To Citizenship at the intersection of economic recovery and immigration reform just as my fellow public servants from the Commonwealth, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Congresswoman Lori Trahan, and Congressman Jim McGovern, have done recently.