To: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-1), Sen. Martha McSally (AZ-2), The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Legal Immigration Should Not Be A Waiting Game!
Esteemed Senators and Members of Congress,
We believe that America is a place of new beginnings, where hard work and strong values should earn new citizens their place at our table.
The path to becoming a citizen should not be a maze of paperwork, fees, roadblocks and waiting periods. It should be based on hard work and individual effort and it should be swift.
Therefore, we urge you to join the White House in committing to a swift, streamlined roadmap to citizenship, in 7 years or less.
Why is this important?
In the debate over immigration, something that confuses a lot of folks is the question of why so many people immigrate illegally in the first place.
While it might sound reasonable to ask that immigrants "just do it the legal way" the truth is that our legal immgration process in this country is long, costly, confusing and frustrating. It often takes an average of 10 years or more, thousands of dollars and endless hearings and paperwork for the average Mexican or South/Central American worker to immigrate legally and "do things the right way."
In the mean time, lack of opportunity and extreme poverty drives many to be willing to risk life and limb to have a chance to work hard and take care of their families by crossing the border, so that the choice may very well be "break the law or let my family starve."
So many otherwise level headed progressive minded people just don't get why aspiring Americans don't "just do things by the book."
As the White House prepares to offer its groundbreaking immigration reform bill, please join me in telling Congress and the President to commit streamline the path to becoming an American and commit to a path to citizenship in less than 7 years!