Mayor Brandon Johnson seeks work permits for undocumented migrants
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mayor Brandon Johnson joined several local activists on Thursday in calling on President Joe Biden to allow work permits for undocumented immigrants.
On the first anniversary of his election as mayor, Johnson hosted a roundtable discussion with business and community leaders from across the city. The group is pushing the federal government to extend legal permits to undocumented migrants who have worked and paid taxes in the U.S. for decades, not just to newly arrived asylum seekers.
"We need the president to extend the same economic opportunities to our long-term undocumented brothers and sisters," Johnson said.
Leaders said work permits would ensure undocumented migrants are provided with fair wages and other benefits, and allow those workers the dignity they deserve.
Last September, the Biden administration granted temporary legal status to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants as the nation grapples with growing numbers of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border after fleeing Venezuela and other parts of Central and South America.
Johnson and other Chicago leaders have said Biden should grant work permits to all immigrants, regardless of their legal status.
"I don't think people realize that people can't even get a bank account, can't have a savings account, a checking account, because they are undocumented. So work permits for all is an opportunity to right that wrong, to have an equitable approach as we decide who is worthy and who is not.," City Clerk Anna Valencia said.
Advocates said Illinois is home to some 480,000 long-term undocumented residents.
Johnson also has been urging the president to speed up work permits for the thousands of asylum seekers who have come to Chicago over the past two years.
Migrant advocates have said getting asylum seekers work permits will allow them to more quickly find permanent housing and move out of city-run shelters.
