Congresswoman Lee Helps Introduce Bipartisan Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation
WATCH REP. LEE’S REMARKS HERE
WASHINGTON –Congresswoman Susie Lee (NV-03) joined a bipartisan group of 20 lawmakers, 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans, to introduce the Dignity Act, led by Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) and Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27).
Lee is an original cosponsor of this historic bill, which would be the first serious bipartisan immigration solution passed by Congress in nearly three decades.
This comprehensive bill makes meaningful reforms to several aspects of our immigration system:
- It grants legal status and protections, including work and travel authority, to undocumented immigrants already living in the United States;
- It reforms the asylum screening process to provide opportunity for review and access to council;
- It creates new regional processing centers so migrants do not have to make the perilous journey to the U.S.-Mexico border to seek asylum;
- It invests in border security and modernizes our land ports of entry;
- It mandates accountability for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); and
- It provides a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers.
Below is the full transcript of Congresswoman Lee’s remarks:
“Good morning everyone. Thank you all for being here. I represent a city that represents what this bill is all about. The dignity of Americans. The dignity of people to be able to come here, to have a family, to have a job, and contribute to our economy. We have an all star team.
“I'm going to go off of [Rep. Espaillat’s] examples: Whether you're a teacher from the Philippines, a server from Ethiopia, a finance planner from the UK, whether you are working in construction from Mexico, we have the all star team in Nevada. And that team deserves the dignity and the relief that this bill encompasses.
". . . This is my fourth term, and from the minute I was elected, comprehensive immigration reform has been the issue I have been committed to. And time again, we have been met with the mantra: ‘you cannot start to talk about immigration reform until you close the border’. Well, I'm hearing we closed the border pretty successfully, so now's the time to pass this bill. And there's 535 people in that building who have the ability to do so. This has been a failing of Congress for decades. And so I'm so proud that this effort is being led by two women... [Rep.] Escobar from Texas and [Rep.] Salazar from Florida.
“So I believe we have every chance of getting this passed with their leadership. I look forward to working with anyone on any side of the aisle to make sure that we do everything as Members of Congress to ensure the dignity of the people who call this great country their home. Thank you.”
A summary of the bill can be found here and full text can be found here.
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