Immigration

We are a nation of immigrants that is welcoming to people of all faiths and backgrounds. Unfortunately, our current immigration system is not living up to these basic ideals.

Our immigration system is fundamentally broken and needs comprehensive reform to be brought into the 21st century. We must provide a road map so that undocumented workers can earn legalized status and citizenship, reduce backlogs and allow families to be reunited, pass the DREAM Act so kids brought here years ago can have the same opportunities as everyone else, and allow businesses, like those in the high-technology sector, to attract and retain workers from abroad when domestic talent is not available. Comprehensive reform also must include improvements to secure our borders and remove from this country undocumented immigrants who have committed serious crimes after they serve their sentences.

I am confident that we can adopt reforms that would provide a way to bring undocumented workers out of the shadows, allow our economy to utilize the best and brightest human capital, and impose meaningful border security.

What I am Doing for You

I’m an original cosponsor of H.R. 4798, the Reuniting Families Act. This bill would cut the backlog causing the separation of 4.4 million family members from U.S. citizens and green card holders. (I cosponsored this as H.R. 717 in the 113th Congress.)

Rep. Swalwell at the iAmerica Citizenship Workshop – a day-long event providing free assistance with citizenship applications – in Hayward, March 2016.

In the 113th Congress:

I was an original cosponsor of H.R. 15, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. This bipartisan bill, very similar to bipartisan legislation which passed the Senate, would provide for comprehensive immigration reform, including providing a pathway to earned citizenship for undocumented workers in the U.S.

I was an original cosponsor of H.R. 1365, the Refugee Protection Act, to improve the ability of persons to apply for asylum and provide greater assistance once in the United States.

I cosponsored H.R. 633, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act. This bipartisan bill would eliminate the per-country caps for employment-based visas and raise the cap on family-based visas.

I sent multiple letters to the Departments of Homeland Security and State in support of giving Temporary Protected Status to the Philippines, in light of the devastation following Typhoon Haiyan, to let Filipinos in the United States remain here temporarily.