As VP Harris Visits, Immigrant New Jerseyans Call on VP to Use Power to Grant Citizenship to Immigrants

Immigrant New Jerseyans, in the third most immigrant populous state in the Nation, demand VP Harris use role as Senate President to Override the Parliamentarian

NEWARK, NJ: As Vice President Kamala Harris tours New Jersey, immigrant New Jerseyans call on the Vice President to deliver a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants through the reconciliation package. Leading organizations in New Jersey urge Vice President Harris to exercise her authority as Senate President to set aside the Parliamentarian’s advice and tell congressional leaders to protect funding for a path to citizenship in reconciliation. A pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, farmworkers and essential workers could impact at least 9 million individuals including more than 300,000 New Jerseyans. The groups also called on the VP to stop deportations to Haiti and to suspend Title 42.

VP Harris’ visit to New Jersey — one of the most immigrant populous states in the nation — comes after the unelected Senate Parliamentarian has issued opinions again and again to exclude citizenship from the budget reconciliation package. As negotiations continue, immigrants point to Vice President Harris’ ability to change the lives of millions by ruling in favor of including citizenship, in her role as Presiding Officer of the Senate. On Monday, more than 57 grassroots organizations sent a letter to VP Harris urging her to invoke her independent authority to ignore the Parliamentarian.

“As an essential health care worker during the pandemic, I put my life at risk every day to help keep a health clinic open. But still, I fear being separated from my children. New Jersey is my home. I call on Vice President Kamala Harris to commit to using her independent authority to ensure essential workers like me who are undocumented, and milllions of other undocumented immigrants in NJ have a pathway to citizenship through reconciliation. Now is the time. There is no excuse to wait,” said Mariana Velasquez, member of Make the Road New Jersey.

“The only thing we’ve been able to depend on from the Biden-Harris Administration so far is disappointment,” said Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center. “From hounding refugees on horseback with whip in hand, to reopening infamous former private prisons as places to detain immigrants, to fighting a court order so they can keep deporting babies back to a disaster area in Haiti, the legal, fair and humane immigration system they promised has disappeared before it started. We can’t let the promise of citizenship be the next disappointment, and Vice President Harris does not have to let it be.”

“Immigrant workers put their life on the front line during the pandemic. They brought food to your homes! Immigrants washed your clothes while many were working from home and received a stimulus check. Essential workers were risking their lives. Many children were stressed out when their parents lost their jobs due to the pandemic. They believed that the government would support them, not knowing they would not receive any relief for their legal status. We demand respect, and the administration has to keep the promise of an inclusive citizenship path for all immigrants. Now is the time to show your humanity and respect for our communities. Immigrants keep this country and our economy moving—Vice President Kamala Harris, immigrant lives matter. We demand citizenship through the reconciliation package, NOW!”– Gloria Guerrero, organizer, Laundry Workers Center

“Vice President Harris has the power to help deliver on what previous administrations have promised but always failed to materialize, a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented people in the U.S. There is no doubt that the Vice President can overrule the parliamentarian’s suggestion. After decades of inaction, the time to deliver on the promise of citizenship is now. ” – Itzel Hernandez, organizer, American Friends Service Committee

The soul of this nation is weeping as the US continues to deport Haitian immigrants to an unstable homeland, as it upholds the separation of immigrant families, and exploits immigrants for their labor during a pandemic while neglecting to honor their inherent dignity.  Vice President Harris, as communities of faith and people of conscience, we call upon you to begin to redeem the soul of this nation, by utilizing your power to include the most expansive pathway to citizenship in reconciliation. One that ensures the inclusion of Black immigrants who are disproportionately facing deportation and physical abuse like what we have seen on full display at our border with our Haitian siblings. Vice President Harris, commit yourself to a pathway to citizenship now and dedicate your platform to one of radical love.  – Charlene Walker, executive director, Faith in New Jersey.