New York, NY-Thursday evening, House Democrats successfully passed HR 6. The legislation will now go to the U.S. Senate. The legislation allows many individuals brought to the country as children and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) beneficiaries to earn lawful permanent residence and eventual citizenship. Earlier this month, New York Representatives Nydia Velázquez and Yvette D. Clarke joined Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA) in reintroducing the legislation. HR 6 is part of a series of bills aimed at reforming the U.S. immigration system pushed by House Democrats this week.
The bill would provide legalization to an estimated 2 million undocumented young people—including roughly 28,000 Dreamers and more than 50,000 TPS recipients in New York State.
After the House of Representatives passed HR 6, Murad Awawdeh and Rovika Rajkishun, interim Co-Executive Directors of the New York Immigration Coalition, released the following statement:
“With this historic vote, House Democrats have delivered renewed hope to millions of immigrants who call the U.S. home and are essential to our communities. For far too long, nearly 100,000 New Yorkers faced the daily threat of separation from their loved ones and their communities. For decades, our movement fought for this legislation to protect countless families from the whims of whoever sat in the White House.
Representatives Yvette D. Clarke and Nydia Velázquez long understood the brutal cost of inaction. Their reintroduction of this legislation, and its passage in the House, has brought us one step closer to true immigrant justice. We thank Representatives Clarke and Velázquez for championing this lifeline for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. Even as we mark this bill's historic nature, we remain deeply disappointed that the legislation includes harmful provisions that criminalize communities of color. It is incumbent upon the Democratic leadership to remove these needless bars and penalties, compounding systemic anti-Blackness in our immigration and legal systems. We urge Senate Democrats, led by Majority Leader Schumer, to use whatever means necessary to finish the job and pass this bill."