Immigrants come to America to pursue a better life for themselves and their families. Although they comprise only 13% of the total US population, immigrants account for 16% of the labor force, 18% of small business owners, and 15% of the total US economic output.^[1] We must overhaul our broken immigration system and create a path to citizenship for the nation’s 11.7 million undocumented immigrants which would enable them to produce and earn more without the constant fear of deportation. We can secure our borders, but we must work in a bipartisan manner to promote opportunity for immigrants to contribute to this country. Providing undocumented immigrants with a pathway to citizenship would enhance their role as consumers and taxpayers, thus boosting our economy. In addition, we must fight for the Dreamers who have undergone extensive background checks, paid $500 for a work permit, and contributed over $516 million annually to Indiana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).^[2] The Dream Act needs to be enacted without condition. We certainly do not need to build a wall or to enact the No Sanctuary Criminals Act. Lastly, we must not have a religious litmus test banning Muslims or persons of any religion from entering our nation.

^[1] Costa et al. 2014, Economic Policy Institute (EPI) Facts about Immigration and the US Economy, http://www.epi.org/publication/immigration-facts/

^[2] Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) 2017, Indiana and DACA: The Facts, http://files.www.iwj.org/resources/state-by-state-daca-fact-sheets/DACA_Fact_Sheets/Indiana_DACA.pdf