US mayors, businesses, unions seek migrant worker permits
New York City and Chicago Mayors Eric Adams and Brandon Johnson, respectively, led a group of 40 figures today who asked the federal government for work permits for two million undocumented immigrants.
![US mayors, businesses, unions seek migrant worker permits](https://media-manager.noticiasaominuto.com/960/naom_6216b8fa7bfd3.jpg)
© Getty Images
![Notícias ao Minuto](https://cdn.noticiasaominuto.com/img/equipa/pessoa/lusa.png)
Mundo Estados Unidos
"Our city would not be the best in the world without generations of immigrants (...). The only way to make the American Dream work is by letting people work, because work is the foundation of that dream", said Adams, in a joint statement.
This bipartisan initiative was promoted by a group called Cities for Action (C4A), which brings together mayors and executives from various sectors, when the Senate is studying a comprehensive reform of immigration legislation.
For the mayor of New York, extending the work permit for immigrants is a "beneficial measure", which would prevent labour "exploitation" and the financial burden borne by welfare systems.
"Chicago and Illinois are home to 320,000 undocumented Mexicans and Guatemalans and over 40,000 Haitians, Jamaicans and Nigerians also without documents, who, despite not having a work permit, contribute enormously to our economies", said Johnson.
The C4A coalition is supported by mayors of 80 congressmen, 300 businessmen, CEOs and associations of the American Business Immigration Coalition, as well as several trade union organisations.
On Thursday, the Senate rejected for the second time a bill that restricted migration and access to asylum on the border with Mexico.
The text had been negotiated by Republican and Democrat senators at the end of last year, as part of a broader negotiation to approve funding for the governments of Israel and Ukraine.
But, during a first vote in February, the Republicans opposed the project, after the Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, had asked for this opposition.
Read Also: USA announces transfer of military aid to Kyiv of 275 million (Portuguese version)
Descarregue a nossa App gratuita.
Oitavo ano consecutivo Escolha do Consumidor para Imprensa Online e eleito o produto do ano 2024.
* Estudo da e Netsonda, nov. e dez. 2023 produtodoano- pt.com