Issue Position: Immigration

Issue Position

Our immigration system is broken, and we must enact comprehensive reform. We are a nation of immigrants, and should not turn our backs on those fleeing violence, oppression, and poverty. Our country is better and stronger because of resilient, hardworking immigrants. We should not alienate immigrant communities; we should embrace them.

For over 15 years, Mary Gay has represented immigrants fleeing economic and political violence. Mary Gay has represented asylum seekers, young people seeking DACA and special immigrant juvenile status, and victims of human trafficking. When President Trump announced his immigration ban, Mary Gay dispatched attorneys to airports across the country to represent families being detained by ICE officials, and when the Trump administration began deporting hardworking non-violent immigrants, who had committed no crime other than being in the country, Mary Gay organized training and materials to help immigrants fearing deportation to protect their families.

In Congress, Mary Gay will introduce and support policies including, but not limited to:

Path to Citizenship

Undocumented immigrants live under the constant threat of deportation, especially with the increase in ICE operations since Trump's inauguration. These immigrants work hard in their communities to provide for themselves and their families, and are excluded from access to public services. Mary Gay will work to provide a path to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented immigrants.

Refugee Reform

For decades, genocide, war, famine, and other human rights crises have forced millions to flee their home countries. Families have been separated, generations devastated; entire regions crippled financially, structurally and emotionally. For generations, resourceful and hopeful refugees have looked to America as a beacon of freedom and land of opportunity, and they have enriched our country with their resilience, their work ethic, and their talents. We must ensure that refugees fleeing violence and persecution have the opportunity to seek asylum in America. Mary Gay will introduce legislation that lowers barriers to asylum status, expands funding for immigration agencies to reduce wait time for asylum and immigration status, and enhances due process and representation for those facing deportation.

Protect Families and End Detention of Children

It is inhumane to have an immigration system that tears families apart, separating parents from their children. The Trump administration has attacked longstanding family reunification policies from which his own family has benefitted, belittling them as "chain migration," and championing policies to detain refugee children and separate them from their parents. It is also inhumane to house undocumented children in detention centers, such as the Berks County Family Detention Center, just minutes away from the 5th District. In Congress, Mary Gay will introduce legislation that prevents the deportation of parents of American children, increases availability of visas for close relatives of immigrants, and eliminates detention of undocumented children.

Close Private Detention Centers

Each year, ICE spends over $2 billion contracting with private detention centers that warehouse immigrants, including children, in inhumane conditions and deny access to basic services. Mary Gay will support legislation to close private detention centers and improve conditions for those subject to detention.

Provide Access to Healthcare

Current law prohibits undocumented immigrants from purchasing health insurance through the Obamacare exchanges. It is both inhumane, and ultimately expensive, to withhold access to healthcare from immigrant families. They should be allowed to participate in the exchanges.

Promote Integration

We must stop alienating immigrant communities and promote integration. Efforts to intimidate immigrants and force them into the shadows hurt American communities and prevent local law enforcement from doing its job. Mary Gay will support legislation providing community services to immigrants, including citizenship education and social services, and will oppose laws undermining local law enforcement. She will oppose measures like the Trump administration's proposal to revive a long abandoned and unconstitutional census question about immigration status. Mary Gay will also support legislation that provides funding to prevent the economic exploitation of undocumented immigrants.

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