SPLC ACTION FUND: We Will Not Be Deterred, The Time for a Clear Pathway to U.S. Citizenship is Now 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to the Senate Parliamentarian blocking key immigration components from being included in the Build Back Better legislation, Efrén C. Olivares, Deputy Legal Director of the Immigrant Justice Project with the SPLC Action Fund released the following statement.  
 
“While this development is deeply disappointing, it does not deter us at all from pursuing what is a right – finally addressing these long overdue immigration reform measures.  
 
“Members of the Senate must not be deterred either. Any serious effort to ‘build back better’ must include meaningful action for immigrants and their families. A pathway to citizenship ought to be the driving vision, so that immigrants and their families can become fully participatory members of American society.  
 
“Until that is possible, at a minimum, we must ensure that our immigrant neighbors are part of this transformational legislation. From essential workers such as farmworkers, meat packing workers, nurses, and doctors, to technology and construction workers, we must recognize that immigrants are members of our communities, and critical for the present and future of this country.”