State Treasurer, Comptroller Among Latino Officials Asking Biden for Immigrant Work Visas

April 22 – New Mexico State Treasurer Laura Montoya and State Auditor Joseph Maestas are among dozens of Latino elected officials calling on President Joe Biden to create three new work permit programs for undocumented immigrants.

“As representatives of vibrant immigrant communities across the country, we appreciate your recent efforts to provide work permits to newly arrived immigrants,” said a letter to the president signed by thirteen Democratic members of Congress, including U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico. and endorsed by 70 elected officials from California to Maryland.

“We hope you will consider our recommendations to continue supporting these deserving immigrant communities,” reads the letter, which is also addressed to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ur Jaddou.

In all, four elected officials in New Mexico signed or endorsed the letter: Leger Fernández, Montoya Maestas and state Rep. Cynthia Borrego, D-Albuquerque.

The letter urges the Biden administration to establish new work permit programs for the following groups:

* Undocumented spouses and immediate family members of U.S. citizens by updating the military parole program for spouses and parents of military personnel. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the program allows an alien who has entered the United States without permission from an immigration officer to “remain for a specified period of time.”

* The estimated 600,000 so-called Dreamers under the age of 18 who are not eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA.

* Long-term workers who have paid taxes for years but have been denied a path to legal status.

“We applaud your use of executive authority to expand access to work permits for recent arrivals from several countries,” the letter said. “However, we believe it is time to extend this dignity to America’s longer-term communities who have been waiting for decades to receive relief.”

Maestas called work permits an important part of immigration reform.

“In the past, Congress has handled it piecemeal, and it is literally impossible in this political climate to expect Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform,” he said. “So the standard approach would be to pursue key elements such as work permits.”

Maestas said “it’s no secret” that undocumented immigrants work without work permits across the country but live in the shadows.

“This could eliminate a lot of negative perceptions about immigrants, such as not paying taxes,” he said. “If they come out of the shadows without protection, they risk deportation. But if we bring them into the system, all of us among us will contribute to our local economy, because I think it’s no secret that immigrants contribute to our economy in a positive way.”

In a press release, Montoya said that “expanding economic opportunities to long-term undocumented immigrants through” work permit programs “can restore their dignity while officially recognizing their belonging in the communities where they live and work.”

“Immigrants make long-term contributions to our country, working hard, paying taxes and adding strength to our economy,” she said in a statement. “As the first Latina elected state treasurer, I will always advocate that our immigrant communities have the opportunity to live the American Dream.”

In an interview, Montoya said there are both financial and social benefits to work permits for undocumented immigrants, who are sometimes “super stressed” about not having a work permit.

“It’s a struggle that I think needs to be addressed, and it’s a simple solution — and it’s a forgotten group of people who built our economy and have been part of our communities for a long time,” she said. .

Montoya and Maestas both disputed critics’ claims that creating new work permit programs would encourage illegal immigration.

“I think people forget that this economy and this country were built on the backs of immigrants, and that’s still true,” Montoya said. “They’re not taking anyone’s jobs. They’re working on jobs that are really important for us to build our economy. … I think people need to look at things more holistically.”

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.