Undocumented immigrants who have been essential workers amid the novel coronavirus pandemic have earned more than our collective thanks, they have earned American citizenship, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla said during a Senate hearing on Wednesday. The California senator, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, called for passage of legislation he has introduced that would put millions of essential workers on a pathway to citizenship.

“Now during the course of the pandemic, when hundreds of thousands of people were in the process of dying in our country, these immigrant essential workers risked their own lives and the lives of their families to ensure that Americans still had food on the tables, that our children and elderly were cared for, and that our health care centers and other facilities were cleaned and sanitized,” he said during his opening remarks. “They have more than earned the security and protection in this country for which they have sacrificed so much.”

The hearing importantly raised the massive toll the pandemic has taken on undocumented workers in particular, of whom nearly 3 in 4 are essential workers, according to the Center for American Progress (CAP). Rose, a nurse who is protected from deportation by the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, told Padilla that “the pandemic has definitely affected my mental health, to say the least.”

“When the pandemic initially started last year, I was working at a nursing home and our patients were dying by great numbers,” she said. “There was fear of not knowing what’s going to happen, are we going to contract COVID? And what are we going to do for patients that depended on us for help? Many times, we have to hold their hands, while family members couldn’t come to see them because of our isolation regulations, knowing that that was their last breath.” Other front-line workers, like nurse and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient Javier, have previously described their entire families becoming sick.

During the hearing, Padilla stressed the deep roots that undocumented essential workers like Rose and Javier already have in the U.S., saying that “[o]n average, these immigrant essential workers have lived in the United States for 18 years.” While legislation would grant these workers and their families much-needed stability, Dr. Tom Wong, associate professor of political science and founding director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at University of California-San Diego, told Padilla that permanent relief would in fact be key to the nation’s economic recovery. The Citizenship for Essential Workers Act, introduced by Padilla and Democratic colleagues this past February, would protect up to 5 million undocumented immigrants.

“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,” Wong said. “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.”

“Legalization, followed by a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, will have long-reaching benefits for the U.S. economy,” CAP said. “Such reforms would increase earnings and productivity for undocumented workers, eventually leading to increased tax contributions and local spending, along with increasing job creation, wages for U.S.-born workers, and gross domestic product (GDP).” Research on the comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by the Democratic Senate in 2013 but blocked by House Republicans found that legislation would “[r]aise GDP by more than 5.4 percent over the next 20 years and reduce the deficit by $832 billion.”

“Padilla has also advocated for the bill to be included in President Biden’s infrastructure package,” his office said. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has told members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that he’s “actively exploring” passing immigration legislation through the reconciliation process should Republicans continue sitting on their hands, The New York Times recently reported. Because the move would require approval from the Senate parliamentarian, researchers have reportedly been working on a case to present. “Democrats must act,” Immigration Hub Director Sergio Gonzales told the Times. “Now is the time. This year is the time. We must have citizenship this year.” 

Wednesday’s Senate hearing was also a historic one—it was the first time a Latino senator chaired this committee. “It’s a profound personal honor for me to convene this hearing, here in the United States Senate, on the essential role of immigrant workers in America,” Padilla said during his opening remarks. “I am the proud son of two immigrant workers, and I know firsthand the value that immigrants bring to this country.”