TAMPA, Fla. — Immigration advocates across the U.S. are joining a growing push to call on President Joe Biden to extend work permits to undocumented immigrants who have lived long-term in the U.S. An effort they say will help keep families together and the American workforce strong.
This renewed push has been mounting since September when the Biden administration extended work eligibility to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants who crossed the Southern Borden illegally.
Now lawmakers and business leaders from more than 20 states have signed a letter urging the president to do the same for undocumented immigrants who have grown up in the U.S., worked here for years and/or are immediate family to U.S. citizens.
“We're asking President Biden to solve one small part of it,” said Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, about the ongoing immigration crisis during a press conference alongside the American Business Immigration Coalition and other local business and faith leaders Thursday. The Democratic congresswoman echoed the call for the president to extend work permits for "long-term" undocumented immigrants.
“We urge him to use his executive authority to grant a pathway to work permits for people who need them, who are spouses of American citizens, especially spouses of brave military veterans and service members,” Castor said, referring to spouses like Alejandra Juarez.
Juarez is the wife of an Iraq War veteran and mother to two U.S.-born kids who will be forced to leave the country again in less than 24 hours.
RELATED: After three years in Mexico, a mom was reunited with her kids just in time for mother's day
“On Saturday I will no longer be here. On Saturday my kids will wake up without their mother, to guide them, to make them breakfast,” Juarez said through tears.
Juarez was deported in 2018 because she’s undocumented. She returned to the U.S. after being granted parole in 2021, but in the years since, she has not found a pathway to citizenship despite a clean criminal record.
“Immigration laws are very complex and inhumane, and I'm not the only one being affected by this,” Juarez said.
Local Hispanic business leaders say the economy and workforce are impacted as well.
According to a Pew Research Center study in 2021, nearly 6% of Florida’s labor force was made up of undocumented immigrants, spread out across industries including farming and construction.
RELATED: How Florida's new anti-illegal immigration bill impacts state's workforce
“We are not requesting handouts. We are just requesting to give us the right to be here and do what we have been doing and continue to do for the service of not only us to take care of our families, but to serve our community,” said Mercedes Young, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Tampa Bay.
Advocates say granting work papers will allow undocumented immigrants to continue finding work in Florida without fear of deportation and businesses without fear of retribution.
Right now, Florida employers are navigating new laws as part of a statewide crackdown on illegal immigration. This July, businesses could start facing fines if they fail to use E-Verify to confirm their employees’ legal status.
“Here in the state of Florida there are currently 575,000 open jobs with about 53 available workers for every 100 open jobs,” said State Rep. Susan Valdes, D-Tampa. “This is an opportunity to fix part of the broken immigration system while growing our economy. It also is the compassionate and empathetic thing to do. It's not difficult to do the right thing”
While they call on the president to act without Congress, here in Florida the governor’s office is commenting on the push. In a statement, Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern told 10 Tampa Bay they, “oppose any any policy that would provide illegal aliens with legal authorization to remain in Florida. That’s why Gov. DeSantis proposed and signed the toughest anti-illegal immigration law in the nation, which includes mandatory E-verify for private employers.”
“Rewarding lawbreakers should not be a policy championed by any government, let alone members of Congress, who have a duty to put the interests of the American people first," Redfern added. "Gov. DeSantis will ensure Florida remains a law-and-order state, and the federal government could learn something from the governor’s leadership on this issue."
Advocates argue it’s not a partisan issue, it just allows people who have contributed to communities in Florida for years to continue doing so.
“It is the smart thing to do, and it's the right thing to do and I think that we need to be courageous about these conversations and support our communities,” Valdes said.