Transcript of segment: Members of LUPE spent the summer calling on Congress to vote for the $3.5 trillion proposal. Congress has a golden opportunity to make this happen through a process known as budget reconciliation.
What’s special about budget reconciliation is that Democrats only need a simple majority to pass it. At this point, the plan has already cleared the first 2 steps through Congress. We need to make sure our representatives finish the job.
So what does immigration have to do with a budget proposal? We know that immigrants deserve a pathway to Citizenship because they are humans who deserve that right. It’s also true that creating this path will benefit the U.S. economy. In fact, economists estimate that it would add billions of dollars into our local, state, and federal economy. That's why this plan is part of a budget proposal.
One of the groups who will benefit from the passage of this plan are those who have DACA. That’s why in July, we protested outside of attorney general Ken Paxton’s office in Pharr. This was days after a federal judge partially ended the DACA program.
Immigrant farm workers, mothers, and youth gathered outside of Paxton’s office to condemn his greedy attacks against DACA. They also called on Congress to deliver a permanent solution, once and for all, through the reconciliation plan.
Here’s some video from our members sharing their stories that day.
(Transcript of clip not available)
A couple of weeks after this protest in Pharr, the Senate cleared the first step to pass the plan.
The reconciliation plan then made its way to the House. So we shifted our focus to our 3 Valley reps: Henry Cuellar, Vicente Gonzalez, and Filemon Vela.
In August, LUPE members protested outside of Cuellar’s office in Mission. Cuellar reportedly joined a group of 9 conservative Democrats who threatened to block the plan in the House. Among this group were also reps Gonzalez and Vela. So at this point, every single Valley congressman was a threat to passage of this historic plan.
Here’s what our members had to say during our protest outside of Cuellar's office.
(Transcript of clip not available)
10 days after that protest, the 9 conservative Democrats agreed to not block the plan for now. It then cleared the second historic step in congress.
There are still battles to win before it lands on President Biden's desk. But we are confident in the power of our movement to lead Congress to deliver citizenship this year.
In the next few weeks, we’ll track which side Valley reps will choose. Will they help send this plan to President Biden’s desk? Or if they will side with conservative anti-immigrant political games?
Like our LUPE members said in their testimonies, we can’t wait another year. We can’t wait another decade. The time to deliver a pathway to citizenship for millions is now. To get involved with LUPE and this campaign, visit our website lupenet.org or send us a message on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
