STATE OF THE UNION
In his second State of the Union address, President Joe Biden talked about the progress of his economic plan, such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the creation of more than 12 million jobs since taking office. But he did not acknowledge the contributions of Latino immigrants to the well-being of American families.Oscar Chacon, executive director of Alianza Americas, has said in this regard that “migration has brought positive social, economic and cultural benefits to our country (a country dealing with an aging population, inflation and a massive labor shortage) by attracting hardworking, young immigrants, many of whom work as essential laborers (...) We expected a commitment from President Biden to establish and enforce laws that highly reflect the positive nature of our contributions to the country and recognize that overcoming the struggles of our economy is directly linked to implementing humane and visionary immigration policy reforms.”
In his view, President Biden has missed “the opportunity to address toxic and xenophobic narratives that seek to spread hate and theories driven by lies that have proven to harm our communities and our country as a whole (...) We regret that the President continues to fail to deliver on his promise to ensure various immigration protections, including efforts to allow individuals who have lived for many years in the U.S., without enjoying immigration guarantees, to apply for permanent residency.” Oscar Chacón, in an institutional statement sent to Sol de Medianoche, assures that it is regrettable that Biden “has not demonstrated commitment in his international policy to promote economic transformations that will allow the vast majority of people in the Caribbean and Latin American countries to achieve dignified living conditions, so that the factors that force us to emigrate will gradually disappear.” |