UnidosUS Applauds Menendez Border Plan

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WASHINGTON, DC— In response to the release of “The Menendez Plan: Securing Our Borders by Managing Migration and Refugees in the Americas,” Janet Murguía, President and CEO of UnidosUS, issued the following statement:

“We applaud Senator Menendez for his timely, pragmatic, and forward-looking plan to address the humanitarian challenges our country is facing on our southern border. His plan is the kind of constructive and solutions-driven vision that Hispanic voters and millions of other Americans want to see: an immigration system that is humane, efficient, and secure.

“Sen. Menendez’s plan is unique in that it takes into account the many ‘push factors’ and other elements that are driving migration. The four pillars of the senator’s plan would:

  • Create new legal pathways and expand existing processes to reduce pressure at the southwestern border;
  • Increase resources at the border to process asylum seekers and remove people without legal claims to stay in the U.S.;
  • Expand humanitarian assistance and develop financing to better integrate migrants and refugees in countries across the Americas; and
  • Elevate efforts to counter transnational criminal organizations involved in human trafficking and smuggling.

“The senator’s plan stands in sharp contrast to the harmful, cruel, and myopic proposal that House Republicans in Congress intend to mark up in the House Judiciary Committee today. The House GOP’s proposal would slam our country’s centuries-old door to refugees, subject children and families to detention, and fail to address the drivers of migration, or equip the federal government with the tools and funding it needs to better manage humanitarian migrants at our southern border.

“We condemn Republican efforts to continue fueling anti-immigrant policies instead of collaborating to produce the solutions the vast majority of Americans support. We call on President Biden to use Sen. Menendez’s plan as a blueprint as the administration prepares for the end of Title 42 next month.”

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