Immigration
We are a nation of immigrants, welcoming people of all faiths and backgrounds. Unfortunately, our current immigration system is not living up to these basic ideals.
To bring our fundamentally broken, outdated immigration system into the 21st century, we must implement comprehensive reform. We must provide a road map so that undocumented workers can earn legalized status and citizenship, reduce backlogs and allow families to be reunited, let undocumented kids brought here years ago have the same opportunities as everyone else, and let businesses, including those in the high-technology sector, attract and retain workers from abroad when domestic talent is not available. Comprehensive reform also must include improvements to secure our borders and remove from this country undocumented immigrants who have committed serious crimes after they serve their sentences.
After the US withdrew from Afghanistan in August of 2021, almost 80,000 of our Afghan allies fled the country to come to America. These Afghan nationals risked their lives to support the US mission in Afghanistan. They have more than earned the right to come to America and build a life here with their families. My district has one of the largest Afghan and Afghan-American populations in the country. Our immigration system is still struggling to ensure that all of our Afghan allies can live and prosper here in America. I am committed to ensuring that our Afghan allies can build a better life for themselves and their loved ones here in America.
I am confident that we can adopt reforms that would provide a way to bring undocumented workers out of the shadows, allow our economy to use the best and brightest human capital, and impose meaningful border security.
What I am Doing for You:
I am an original cosponsor of H.R. 3194, the U.S. Citizenship Act, President Biden's bold, inclusive, and humane framework for the future of the United States immigration system. The bill would provide millions of hardworking, undocumented immigrants with a pathway to earned citizenship, including Dreamers, Temporary Protective Status recipients, and essential workers who have made enormous sacrifices during the pandemic; prioritize family reunification and keeping families together; and bolster the country's long-term economic growth. The bill would also equip the country to responsibly and effectively manage the border with smart and effective investments, address root causes of migration that force people to leave Central America and restore the United States' commitment to human rights.
I am an original cosponsor of, voted for, and the House passed H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021 (117th Congress), to provide vital protections for up to 3.4 million immigrants, many of whom have spent much of their lives in the United States. The bill offers a path to lawful permanent resident status for Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status recipients, and Deferred Enforced Departure recipients.
I am a cosponsor of H.R. 4627, the Afghan Adjustment Act, a bipartisan bill that would expand eligibility for special immigrant visas (SIV) to more Afghan nationals and their families and streamline the immigration process for humanitarian parole applicants from Afghanistan. This bill would make vital improvements to the process that establishes lawful permanent residence in the US, a privilege they rightfully earned.
I am a cosponsor of H.R. 1535, the Eliminating Backlogs Act of 2023, a bipartisan bill that would increase the number of employment-based visas available by recapturing unused visas from 1992 to 2021, years in which tens of thousands of available visas went to waste.
I cosponsored H.R. 2760, the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, to end the inhumane conditions of detention centers. The bill would also urgently end for-profit immigration detention systems, repeal mandatory detentions, stop family detentions, and prohibit solitary confinement.