Immigration

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

To bring our fundamentally broken, outdated immigration system into the 21st century, we must implement comprehensive reform. We must provide a road map so that undocumented workers can earn legalized status and citizenship, reduce backlogs and allow families to be reunited, let undocumented kids brought here years ago have the same opportunities as everyone else, and let businesses, including those in the high-technology sector, 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 use the best and brightest human capital, and impose meaningful border security.

What I am Doing for You

I'm an original cosponsor of, voted for, and the House passed H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, to provide vital protections to up to 3.4 million immigrants, many of whom have spent much of their lives in the United States. The bill offers a path to lawful permanent resident status for Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status recipients, and Deferred Enforced Departure recipients. (I was an original cosponsor of this legislation in the 116th Congress as well.)

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 1177, the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, President Biden’s bold, inclusive, and humane framework for the future of the United States immigration system. The bill would provide millions of hardworking, undocumented immigrants with a pathway to earned citizenship, including Dreamers, Temporary Protective Status recipients, and essential workers who have made enormous sacrifices during the pandemic; prioritize family reunification and keeping families together; and bolster the country’s long-term economic growth. The bill would also equip the country to responsibly and effectively manage the border with smart and effective investments, address root causes of migration that force people to leave Central America, and restore the United States’ commitment to human rights. 

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 3648, the Equal Access to Green cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill that will benefit the U.S. economy by letting American employers focus on hiring immigrants based on their merit, not their birthplace. The bill phases out the 7% per-country limit on employment-based immigrant visas; it also raises the 7% per-country limit on family-sponsored visas to 15%.

I cosponsored, voted for, and the House passed H.R. 1333, the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act, which strengthens the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, and restores the separation of powers by limiting overly broad executive authority to issue future travel bans.

I cosponsored, voted for, and the House passed H.R. 1573, the Access to Counsel Act, to ensures that U.S. citizens, green card holders, and other individuals with legal status are able to consult with an attorney, relative, or other interested party to seek assistance if they are detained by Customs and Border Protection for more than an hour at ports of entry, including airports.

I'm an original cosponsor of H.R. 572, the National Office of New Americans Act, to establish an office within the Executive Office of the President to coordinate federal, state, and local efforts that help immigrants and refugees obtain employment, and assist with language access, and civic engagement. It would also oversee the coordination of work by federal, state, and local governments to support integration efforts, such as helping to attain citizenship.

I cosponsored H.R. 2222, the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, to end the inhumane conditions of detention centers and protects the civil and human rights of immigrants. The bill urgently reforms the alarming injustices of a broken, for-profit immigration detention system by ending the use of private detention facilities altogether, repealing mandatory detention, stopping family detention, and prohibiting solitary confinement while also restoring due process and increasing oversight, accountability, and transparency measures.

I cosponsored H.R. 2920, the American Families United Act, to provide more discretion in immigration enforcement to allow relatives of U.S. citizens to adjust status despite certain minor immigration violations.

I cosponsored H.R. 3215, the Temporary Family Visitation Act, to create a new visa category to facilitate temporary visits to the United States for people to visit family members.

I cosponsored H.R. 5168, the Welcoming Evacuees Coming from Overseas to Mitigate Effects of Displacement (WELCOMED) Act of 2021, a bipartisan bill to provide Afghan refugees entering the United States under humanitarian parole with the same benefits - including resettlement assistance, entitlement programs, and more - as other refugees have traditionally received.

I joined more than 200 of my bipartisan colleagues on a July 2021 letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urging the State Department to use any and all means to speed up the issuance of passports, including but not limited to resolving delays caused by service partners, speeding up plans to increase staff at passport offices, increasing the number of available walk-in appointments, and increasing capacity at call centers. 

In the 116th Congress: 

I voted in favor of H.R. 2740 and H.R. 2500, to block construction of President Trump’s southern border wall, both of which passed in the House.

I was an original cosponsor of H.R.2908, the Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act of 2019, to exempt children of certain Filipino World War II veterans from the numerical limitations on immigrant visas.

I cosponsored H.R.3799, the Reuniting Families Act, to cut the backlog causing the separation of 4.4 million family members from U.S. citizens and green card holders. (This bill is now included within the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021.)