ATLANTA, GA – FWD.us Georgia State Immigration Manager Jaime Rangel issued the following statement today following President Biden’s Joint Address to Congress:

“I’m encouraged by President Biden’s call for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented individuals, including Dreamers, TPS holders, farmworkers, and other essential workers that are vital to our communities and economy, during his Joint Address, especially since I am a Dreamer myself. At just six months old, my family and I moved to the U.S. where I grew up in Northwest Georgia, raised with both southern family values and my Mexican roots. When DACA was introduced, it changed my life and allowed me to expand my contributions to our state even further. And I’m not the only one. Today, more than 352,000 undocumented Georgia immigrants – including more than 170,000 undocumented essential workers – are imperative to the diversity, innovation, and overall success of the Peach State.

“In addition to working on the frontlines of the pandemic, Georgia’s immigrants are business owners, family, friends, and neighbors to us all. We deserve a humane and fair immigration system that encourages immigrants’ contributions to our state, rather than ignoring their significance. There is a ripe opportunity to pass bipartisan immigration reform legislation, with the majority of Americans supporting a pathway to citizenship for undocumented individuals, that keeps Georgia families safe and together and that grows our economy. I encourage Congress and the Biden Administration to build on the momentum already in place to urgently provide this much needed relief for our immigrant communities and for the benefit of all Americans.”