The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) has endorsed expansive legislation that would put millions of undocumented essential workers onto a path to legalization and citizenship. The Citizenship for Essential Workers Act, introduced by California Sen. Alex Padilla, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro, and California Rep. Ted Lieu in February, protects up to 5 million undocumented immigrants.

“Immigrant essential workers have been on the frontlines working to keep us safe, healthy, and fed during the pandemic,” emergency room physician CHC Chair Raul Ruiz said in a statement. “The Department of Homeland Security designated these immigrant workers as essential and part of our country’s infrastructure. Supporting essential workers means supporting economic growth and productivity for our nation.”

The caucus’ endorsement comes as Padilla chaired a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday highlighting the critical role that immigrants stand to play in the nation’s economic recovery from the pandemic. 

“Data from the Census Survey of Business Owners also shows that foreign born persons open about one quarter of new businesses, immigrants also innovate and account for about one quarter of all US patents,” Dr. Tom Wong, associate professor of political science and founding director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at University of California-San Diego, said during the hearing. “According to new American economy, the 3 million immigrant entrepreneurs in the country employ approximately 8 million American workers. So, indeed their entrepreneurism makes them essential for long term growth and our post pandemic economic recovery.”

The National Immigration Law Center said that the comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by the Democratic Senate in 2013 by an overwhelming majority but then blocked by House Republicans even though it had the votes to pass would have raised the GDP by more than 5% over the next two decades, reduced the national deficit by more than $800 billion, and raised wages for all U.S. workers.

The 38-member caucus’ endorsement gives a critical boost to the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act, which unlike legislation addressing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, Temporary Protected Status holders, and farmworkers, has not yet seen a vote on the House floor.

“I’m grateful to have the support of my CHC colleagues behind our effort to create a pathway to citizenship for immigrant essential workers,” Padilla said. “For over a year now, we’ve been thanking the essential workers caring for our aging loved ones, cleaning our hospitals, making the food we had delivered to our homes. Many of them are undocumented, but they stepped up to help keep our families healthy and our economy moving. To ensure a strong, equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, we must honor immigrant essential workers with more than our words. They have earned a pathway to citizenship.”

“Congress needs to honor the dedication, sacrifice, and grit of these essential workers, who are the invisible heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a pathway to citizenship,” Castro said. “After a horrific year of pandemic, four years of Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant cruelty, and decades of bipartisan failures to address a deeply broken immigration system, we cannot let the American people down again with inaction. With the CHC’s support, the House must move swiftly to pass the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act.”