Democratic Senator Álex Padilla traveled to Los Angeles on Friday to promote an initiative that seeks to grant United States citizenship to some 5 million undocumented immigrants who are essential workers for the United States economy.
The first Latino to be elected United States Senator for the state of California, announced this Friday in Los Angeles that he will again present a bill to grant citizenship to more than five million undocumented immigrants who were considered “essential workers” during the covid pandemic.
“We cannot forget the essential workers who risked their health and that of their family to keep us fed and safe,” the senator said at a conference at the Coalition for Immigrant Human Rights (CHIRLA) facilities.
The legislation called the “Citizenship for Essential Workers Act” seeks to legalize and provide a path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants residing in the United States who have been classified as “essential” workers.
According to data shared by the legislator, approximately three out of four undocumented workers in the United States work in jobs that have been designated as essential during the pandemic.
The project intends to grant a path to citizenship to more than five million immigrants, who work in the food industry, the fields and cleaning, or are caregivers of children and the elderly, among other occupations.
Padilla had already presented the project in February 2021, but the measure did not have enough support to be approved.
In this regard, the senator said that “the fight must continue” and that despite the fact that the declaration of an emergency due to Covid ends on May 11, the country owes a debt to these workers.
The bill would benefit those covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) programs and nearly two million farmworkers who are already in the country.
Democrats have a simple majority in the Senate, while the House of Representatives has a Republican majority, which implies a tough road for the proposal to pass.
Padilla did not say if a similar project will be presented in the House of Representatives.
At the press conference, two essential workers presented testimonies, who tearfully recounted their hard work in the pandemic and the urgent need they have to be legalized.
The Democrat reiterated that “essential workers have earned the opportunity to become citizens of the United States”
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