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Hina Naveed, Aryeh Neier Fellow in the Children's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, stated:

“I’m one of millions of people in the US whose lives hang in the balance as congressional leaders decide whether to include a pathway to citizenship for immigrant communities….

Undocumented immigrants are vital to the fabric of the US. Many of us risked our lives to keep the economy going, our communities safe, and people healthy during the Covid-19 pandemic. While those who did were designated “essential” workers and hailed as heroes, legally we remained expendable and relegated to a permanent underclass with no pathway to citizenship. This treatment should not continue. Congress needs to take this opportunity to pass immigration reform, transform our outdated and inhumane immigration system, and provide deeply rooted immigrants – including not only DACA recipients like me, but also essential workers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, and others with strong ties to the United States – with a pathway to citizenship, through reconciliation or other means. Our lives, and my future, depend on it.”

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Hina Naveed, “US Congress Should Create Pathway to Citizenship,” hrw.org, Sep. 28, 2021