President Joe Biden signed executive orders Wednesday erasing the outgoing Trump administration’s travel ban from mostly Muslim countries. Biden also introduced the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 for lawmakers to consider. The legislation aims to expand access to green cards for immigrant workers and provides a pathway to citizenship for millions.
Local advocates say many undocumented immigrants are also essential workers facing down the pandemic from the front lines. Approximately 250,000 in Washington are undocumented. The city of Seattle says an estimated 30-50% of the 18,000 undocumented youth might live in King County alone.
“It’s not the people holding us back, it’s our institutions,” said 25-year-old Kamau Chege, a DACA recipient living in Seattle.
Chege’s family came to America when he was 6-years-old and he says the Trump administration left him in worry for his family.
