WASHINGTON, DC – FWD.us President Todd Schulte released the following statement today on the introduction of the bipartisan America’s Cultivation of Hope and Inclusion for Long-Term Dependents Raised and Educated Natively (CHILDREN) Act of 2021, by Representatives Deborah Ross (D-NC) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA):

“We commend Representatives Ross and Miller-Meeks for introducing the America’s Children Act to protect immigrant children from aging out of their immigration status.

“Family unity is an important part of our immigration system. Hundreds of thousands of children of long-term employment-based immigrants have come to the United States with their parents and have grown up here, attending school and contributing to their communities.

“Because of outdated immigration laws and bureaucratic backlogs, many of these children are at risk of aging out of their immigration status and being forced to leave the country. The America’s Children Act would provide a pathway to permanent residency for these children and modernize the system to protect children in the future.

“Additionally, Congress should pass the bipartisan EAGLE Act (H.R. 3648) to reform per-country caps and reduce backlogs, the root cause of many children aging out, and begin working on legislation to expand and modernize the immigration system to maintain the American competitive advantage.”