Texas families and employers have an immigration problem — it’s not just the one that the press keeps reporting on.
Over 3 million U.S. citizens in Texas live with someone who is undocumented, such as a spouse or a parent. We also know that nearly two out of three undocumented Texans (64%) have been contributing to their communities here for more than a decade. They are critical to our economy and our competitiveness, paying $4 billion in taxes and wielding a spending power of $33.9 billion.
Meanwhile, Texas employers are struggling to fill available jobs. The U.S. Chamber reports that for every 100 open jobs in Texas, there are only 80 available workers.
There’s a simple, bipartisan solution that’s a win-win for Texas families and our Texas economy. Since 2008, the federal government has extended work permits to spouses and children of U.S. military service members and veterans. Congress and the Biden administration should expand this opportunity to other American families.
This simple fix could reunite families like the Avilas. Jorge and Daniela Avila have been married for 17 years. He and their children are U.S. citizens; she is a Mexican national.
On the day of Daniela’s immigration interview, an immigration officer told her that she could not get a green card without first leaving the United States and waiting outside for 10 years. So they are now living in two different countries, according to reporting by Houston Landing.
With a simple commonsense fix, Daniela could come home. Her family would get their mom back. And Texas would gain another available worker to contribute to our state’s economy.
The right thing to do by Texas families is also the right thing to do by Texas businesses, and neither can afford to wait any longer. Allowing someone who has worked and paid taxes here for decades — someone who is raising a family here — to legally work, earn a living and help our economy is a boon for their family and for employers.
That’s why American business, labor, faith and community leaders are calling for this action, and why a poll conducted by Lake Research Partners shows broad and overwhelming enthusiasm for it. In fact, most voters believe the spouses of U.S. citizens already can legally work here.
The crisis at our border is just one facet of a broken, polarized immigration system. The crisis in our workforce is another. We can both secure our border and enact immigration solutions that meet the needs of our economy and families. Congress should act on the bipartisan compromise negotiated in the Senate to do just that.
Across the country, at least 5.5 million U.S. citizens under the age of 18, and 5.8 million adult U.S. citizens live with an undocumented spouse, parent or other loved one. These are already American families. They just need the federal government to let them live like families. It’s good for our economy and reflects who we are as Americans and as Texans.
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas) represents Texas’ 32nd congressional district. Woody Hunt is senior chair of the board of directors of Hunt Companies, vice chair of the Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development in El Paso and treasurer of the American Business Immigration Coalition.
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