Immigrant Rights
Trump and Texas Republicans like Ted Cruz like to talk about the “crisis” at the Southern border. What they won’t tell you is that they caused it and they have walked away from a bipartisan bill to fix it because they don’t want to give Democrats “a win.” While Republicans are preoccupied with “wins and losses”, Democrats are at creating immigration policies that reflect our commitment to human rights.
Compassionate Immigration Reform: There is no policy more anti-family and cruel than Trump’s policy of family separation. No parent should be torn apart from their child for trying to provide the best life they can for their family, and when wait times for visas frequently surpass a decade, it is easy to understand how our broken immigration system breeds desperation. In order to reduce unauthorized border crossings, Democrats will bring our immigration system into the 21st century by streamlining legal immigration, enforcing immigration laws to target crime, and creating a pathway to citizenship.
Build Bridges, Not Walls: President Obama made history when he enacted the DREAM Act, a policy that provided legal status for children who had grown up in the United States without documentation. But there are still too many undocumented immigrants who live in constant fear of deportation–and when our neighbors are unable to report crime in their neighborhoods to the police, we know that this makes our communities less safe. These individuals are our neighbors, co-workers, and friends who deserve a chance to fully integrate into society, and Democrats want to create a legal pathway for them to do so.
Contributing to a Stronger Economy: Republicans want you to blame immigrants for an economy that they created that makes it difficult for working families to get ahead. But the truth is that Texas has always been stronger because of our Southern border. Because of Texas’s tradition of immigration, immigrant communities (both those documented and not) contribute millions of dollars in taxes that are reinvested back into your community.
