In the wake of a series of judicial and policy decisions affecting immigrants, the Florida Democratic Party called for comprehensive federal immigration reform. Florida Democrats issued the statement related to DACA being ruled unlawful, thousands of Cuban immigrants being denied green cards, and Nicaraguans being denied an expanded TPS status.
Last month, Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said recent immigrant news and decisions were “absolutely devastating for Florida’s immigrant community, and for immigrants around the country.”
“Congress’s decades-long failure to fix our broken immigration system has placed unnecessary pain and suffering on millions of people seeking to live the American Dream,” she continued. “Executive branch programs like DACA and the expansion of TPS were always meant to be temporary solutions to the problems caused by congressional inaction. I understand that immigration reform is a complex issue, but we can’t kid ourselves — the holdup has always been based on political fallout, not policy solutions.”
Florida Democrats emphasized that policy “band-aids” will no longer work, and Congress must pass comprehensive legislative reform. That doesn’t seem likely, considering the Republicans ousted their speaker and bipartisanship is not the most popular thing in Washington these days, especially on immigration and the border crisis.
“We can’t rely on policy band-aids anymore,” Fried said. “It’s time for Congress to put politics aside and pass comprehensive immigration reform, including permanent pathways to citizenship for Dreamers and expanded protections for those fleeing political persecution.”
On immigration nationally, Democrats “will continue to work toward comprehensive immigration reform that fixes our nation’s broken immigration system, improves border security, prioritizes enforcement so we are targeting criminals – not families, keeps families together, and strengthens our economy.”
