CONTACT:
Liz Cattaneo
liz (at) jwj.org or 202-393-1044 x104
Washington, D.C. – In response to what should have been the start of the Deferred Action for Parental Arrivals (“DAPA”) program, announced as part of the President’s November 2014 executive actions on immigration, Jobs With Justice issued the following statement:
“DAPA, along with the expanded DACA program, would provide work permits to an estimated 4 million immigrants. Instead this program is held up in the courts by a legal challenge intended to score political points, not solve our broken immigration program.
“It is important to remember the consequences of DAPA’s delayed implementation. The ability to work with status is the single most important job-related protection for immigrants as it helps ensure that bad employers can’t use the threat of immigration enforcement to exploit and retaliate against them. The delay in access to this important protection leaves in place a status quo where corrupt employers can continue to drive down wages and conditions that hurts all workers, citizen and immigrant alike, as well as decent employers who play by the rules.
“Jobs With Justice believes the administration has the legal authority to authorize DAPA and similar deferred action programs that allow for a more rational enforcement of our immigration laws. Indeed we will keep up the fight to make sure that President Obama does everything he can under his legal authority to safeguard working people, including extending deferred action and protections by federal agencies to those who exercise their labor and civil rights. And we will continue to stand with immigrant families in our communities who continue suffer the injustice of the current system, knowing that ultimately Congress holds the responsibility to provide a permanent, comprehensive solution to our broken immigration system.”
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