Pro

“Create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and other individuals long residing in the country. This would allow people to come forward, register with the government, pass a background check, and be put on a path to permanent residence and eventual citizenship. Building a functioning immigration system… will go a long way toward ensuring that people no longer have to come into the country outside the law—or remain outside the law—in the future. However, this will do nothing to address the 10.5 million people already here without status who have, on average, lived in the United States for nearly 15 years. It will not help the more than 1 million individuals now protected by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Temporary Protected Status (TPS), or Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) who have no path to permanent residence and are living in fear that their temporary reprieve may soon be ripped away. If our collective goal is to create policy that upholds the rule of law in the U.S. immigration system—where we all live by a fair and humane system of rules that is transparent, consistent, and aligned with everyday realities—there can be no question that the nation must provide a path to permanent legal status for those already here. They are full and contributing members of U.S. communities—raising families, paying taxes, and enriching society in myriad ways.”

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Tom Jawetz, “Restoring the Rule of Law Through a Fair, Humane, and Workable Immigration System,” americanprogress.org, July 22, 2019