A day after the White House released its own anti-immigration proposal that seeks to cut down on those coming to the United States legally, one Democratic senator is proposing her own bill that would protect undocumented immigrants who served in the U.S. military from being deported.
As The Hill reported on Thursday, the legislation put forward by Sen. Tammy Duckworth aims to stop the Trump administration from deporting those who have fought for the country and also seeks to give “legal residents a path to citizenship through military service.”
More from the report:
The legislative proposals, two of which were co-sponsored by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), proposes naturalization offices at military training locations and improvements in healthcare services for veterans.
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Duckworth, who is an Army veteran, wants to protect military service members who have been convicted of nonviolent offenses.
“Men and women willing to wear our uniform shouldn’t be deported by the same nation they risked their lives to defend,†Duckworth said in a statement.
“These pieces of legislation will help service members become citizens and help veterans who have been deported return to this country, enabling them to live here with their families, and ensuring they have access to the life-saving VA care they have earned because of their tremendous sacrifices,” she continued.
The Democratic push to protect veterans and non-violent, undocumented immigrants comes as the president teamed up with Republican Sen. Tom Cotton and David Perdue earlier in the week to put forward some of the toughest, most anti-immigrant policies the country has ever seen.
As The New York Times noted this week, the proposal he threw his weight behind on Wednesday would “slash legal immigration to the United States in half within a decade by sharply curtailing the ability of American citizens and legal residents to bring family members into the country.”
While Trump continues to trample on American values, Democrats are fighting back and reminding the president and the country that immigrants – particularly those who fought for this country – are part of what makes America great.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
