FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 6, 2022
Contact: Bethelhem@undocublack.org
New Year, Same Ask: UndocuBlack Statement on Green Cards in Building Back Better
The UndocuBlack Network wants to make it clear that we have not wavered from registry being the morally right and just solution for our communities. Apart from being issued citizenship, green cards through registry is the only way to tangibly change the lives of 11 million undocumented immigrants. Contrary to unfounded skepticism, reinserting registry language into the Build Back Better Act (BBB) is also completely feasible. The registry language has been preliminarily scored by the Congressional Budget Office and abides by the funding limits currently imposed. In fact, the House Judiciary Committee’s summary of the registry language noted it is as “billions of dollars cheaper” than amending Section 245B of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
The UndocuBlack Network, along with our partners the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), the National Immigration Law Center, and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) have a established a way forward for immigration provisions to be included in the Build Back Better bill language— with our strategy in the form of this joint memo. The memo outlines the procedural steps necessary to secure a pathway to citizenship in the Build Back Better Act and how to choose not to accept the Parliamentarian’s misguided and non-binding advice in the Senate.
“The strategy is informed by Senate rules, but it also relies upon all Democrats in Congress working in unison to deliver justice to our communities. The Democratic party has the power to organize the Democratic Caucus and make this happen. They now need to show their will and commitment through taking on the strategy we’ve worked tirelessly to provide.”
—-Patrice Lawrence, Executive Director
“It is critical now more than ever that the voices of the advocates committed to bringing true relief to our communities through green cards in registry are given the respect and amplification due. We kept immigration relevant in BBB through staying the course on parole and by not giving into any temporary fix to over three decades of stagnancy on immigration progress.
This work is not political chess to us.he lives of 11 million people are hanging in the balance. Whether we were born within these borders or not we are still people.
This is not a game to us and we are done with those in positions of power claiming to fight for us, but instead taking up space and treading over both our voices and our demands as impacted people and grassroots advocates.”
—Yoliswa Khumalo Hadebe, Director of Narrative and Media, DACA recipient.
THE UNDOCUBLACK NETWORK (UBN), founded in 2016, is a multigenerational network of currently and formerly undocumented Black people organizing their own communities and building power through advocacy, policy change, community wellness, and narrative shifting. UBN has chapters in New York City, the DC/MD/VA area, and Los Angeles, CA.
###
