Filed Under: Hispanic News, Immigration, Politics, Press Releases
Tagged: border, citizenship, family, menudo
“Today, Rhadames Rivera, Vice President of SEIU Healthcare Local 1199 UHE, testified before the House Subcommittee on Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law on the negative impact that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fee hike will have on the union’s immigrant members. Rivera warned that thousands of immigrant homecare, hospital, nursing home, and other healthcare providers will be priced out of the citizenship application process as a result of the inflated fees.
“Our members work hard to care for some of the most vulnerable members of our society,” began Rivera. “Yet USCIS’s choice to increase fees beyond any other comparable government service fee sends the message that we do not want these critical healthcare workers to participate in our society. We’ll take their work, but we’ll deny them access to citizenship””the cornerstone of the American Dream.”
Citing the dramatic July 30th fee hike””which raised naturalization fees from $400 to $675””Rivera warned that scheduled appointments for 1199’s Citizenship Program already dropped by 50 percent in August.
“Since families often apply for citizenship at the same time, the resulting $2,025 cost for a family of four is simply insurmountable. We often learn of workers using vacation pay or even tax refunds to pay for naturalization application fees. Pricing some of our nation’s hardest workers out of their rightful chance to participate fully in U.S. civic life is shameful,” continued Rivera.
“We’re moving in the wrong direction as a nation if we turn citizenship into a luxury that is only available to an elite few,” added SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina. “Discrimination based on wealth is not an American value. It’s time to roll back this fee hike and stand up for our heritage as an inclusive democracy, and a proud nation of immigrants.”
Today’s Congressional testimony follows a federal lawsuit that SEIU filed against USCIS in August for illegally raising immigration fees beyond basic processing costs. Click here to read Rivera’s full testimony, and here to learn more about the federal lawsuit against USCIS.
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With 1.9 million members, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in North America. Focused on uniting workers in three sectors to improve their lives and the services they provide, SEIU is the largest health care union, including hospitals, nursing homes, and home care; the largest property services union, including building cleaning and security; and the second largest public employee union.”
Hoy, Rhadames Rivera, vicepresidente de SEIU Healthcare Local 1199 UHE, testificó ante el Subcomité de la Cámara de Representantes sobre Ciudadaní, Refugiados, Seguridad Fronteriza, Inmigración y Ley Internacional sobre el impacto negativo que el alza de tarifas del Departamento de Servicios de Ciudadaní e Inmigración (USCIS) de Estados Unidos tendrá sobre sus afiliados inmigrantes. Rivera advirtió que, miles de trabajadores inmigrantes de cuidado en casa, hospitales, casas de convalecencia y otros proveedores de salud no podrán pagar las tarifas infladas para el proceso de solicitud de ciudadaní.
“Nuestros afiliados trabajan duro cuidando a unos de los miembros más vulnerables de nuestra sociedad”, dijo Rivera. “Sin embargo la decisión del USCIS de aumentar las tarifas más allá de toda tarifa comparable de servicio gubernamental enví el mensaje de que no queremos que estos valiosos trabajadores de la salud participen en nuestra sociedad. Aceptamos su trabajo, pero les negamos acceso a la piedra angular del sueño americano”.
Citando la espectacular alza de tarifas del 30 de julio, que elevó las tarifas de nacionalización de $400 a $675, Rivera advirtió que las citas programadas para el Programa de Nacionalización del Local 1199 ya cayeron en 50% en agosto.
“Como a menudo las familias postulan a la ciudadaní en grupo, la suma resultante de $2,025 le resulta sencillamente impagable a una familia de cuatro. Nos enteramos de trabajadores que a menudo usan su paga de vacaciones o reembolso tributario para pagar las tarifas de nacionalización. Es vergonzoso excluir a algunos de los más esforzados trabajadores de nuestro país de su justo derecho a participar plenamente en la vida cívica de EE.UU.”, añadió Rivera.
“Como nación nos movemos en la dirección equivocada si convertimos la nacionalización en un lujo sólo al alcance de una elite”, añadió Eliseo Medina, vicepresidente ejecutivo de SEIU. “La discriminación basada en la riqueza no es un valor estadounidense. Es hora de reducir esta alza de tarifa y defender nuestro legado de democracia inclusiva y nación orgullosa de inmigrantes”.
Este testimonio sigue a la demanda federal entablada por SEIU contra el USCIS en agosto por el aumento ilegal de las tarifas de inmigración más allá de los costos básicos de procesamiento. Haga clic aquí para leer todo el testimonio de Rivera y aquí, para indagar de la demanda contra el USCIS.
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Knowledge is Power and this page is just the start. Hispanics/Latinos are a growing diverse force in this country. Check out some of the 54,866 items found on this site below or dig into the Site Map
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