Immigrant care workers support millions of our country’s seniors and people with disabilities. Consumers uniquely understand that a roadmap to citizenship for the careworkers they rely on. To that end, the Caring Across Generations campaign organized a powerful army of consumers on Capitol Hill to advocate for the importance of immigration reform on April 16.
Hundreds of aging groups, seniors, people with disabilities, care workers, employers and their families lobbied their Congressional delegations to ensure immigration reform includes a pathway to citizenship for care workers to stabilize and grow the workforce, and meet the needs of our rapidly aging population.
They were armed with a new story book of some of the many consumer voices who understand how interconnected so many Americans are with immigrant caregivers. One consumer who attended, Marcia Mayer, said: “Both Daphne and Kristina are an intimate part of my life. These two immigrant women—who left their own mothers behind in their home countries—have cared for my mother in ways I simply could not.”
We now have an immigration bill – and we now embark on the critical next step of analyzing it, pushing for improvements, and ensuring that for the sake of our country’s future and for millions of immigrants who are ready to come out of the shadows, we win the broadest, most inclusive possible road map to citizenship. As Congress moves forward on immigration reform, the Caring Across Generations campaign will press hard to ensure that low-wage domestic and home care workers can have real access to citizenship.
