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I immigrated to America with my parents when I was a child. This country has since given me the opportunity to work hard, raise my family, and serve my country both in the military and in Congress. It is important that we have a fair immigration system that works. Unfortunately, our current system is deeply flawed, and in Congress I am working to make our immigration laws more fair to keep families together and continue to grow our economy.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has given nearly 800,000 young people a shot at the American Dream, allowing them to come forward, live, work, and learn in the United States legally and without fear of deportation. This includes the over 9,000 students, entrepreneurs, and military members eligible for the program on the Central Coast. I am proud to co-sponsor and vote in support of the DREAM and Promise Act, to permanently codify DACA. As an immigrant, I know first hand how our immigration laws can help us continue to build a robust economy and keep families together. That is why I have co-authored the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which creates lasting reform to our immigration system to address workforce shortages in the agriculture industry and provide stability and fairness for farmworkers. The legislation passed the House with strong bipartisan support and I am continuing to press my colleagues in the Senate to pass this bill and send it to the President’s desk to be signed into law. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) I also led a bipartisan effort to ensure that service members who have permanent resident status are aware of the opportunity for expedited naturalization. With intensified military operations in recent years, many service members were not made aware of their expedited naturalization opportunities. This amendment now requires that the military provide this information to our eligible service members and veterans. I believe immigrants have long contributed to the strength and vibrancy of America. The only way forward in solving our immigration crisis is through meaningful immigration reform, not through xenophobic and misguided policies that dehumanize our immigrant populations. I will continue to work toward enacting sensible, bipartisan immigration reform. I helped write the Farm Workforce Modernization Act: bipartisan legislation that both farmers and farmworkers have told Congress needs to sign into law as soon as possible. Our bill provides a pathway for earned legal status for existing farmworkers, makes meaningful reforms to the H-2A agricultural guest worker program and creates a first-of-its-kind, merit-based visa program specifically designed for the nation’s agricultural sector. For more information concerning work and views related to immigration, please contact our office. |
