Statement from SEIU’s Mary Kay Henry on Emergency Supplemental Proposals

Washington, DC – Service Employees International (SEIU) President Mary Kay Henry issued the following statement in reaction to the emergency supplemental proposals currently moving through Congress:

“As a union of working people from every background, including many immigrant workers, SEIU members stand against the draconian changes to immigration policy that Republicans are trying to force on the nation as the price for one-time foreign aid funding. These changes would not make us safer and in fact would endanger our democracy and our immigrant communities.

“We are anxious for a solution at the border and support supplemental funding for critical needs like shelter and services. But the proposals on the table right now are remarkably extreme and, based on reports, they seem to be getting even more extreme by the minute. The proposed changes would ramp up cruelty and danger to migrants at the border and immigrants in the interior, but wouldn’t even work to reduce the numbers now arriving at the border, mainly due to worldwide instability.

“Congress and the administration must not lose sight of the bigger picture. Immigrant workers are powerful leaders in our union and integral to our economy and our nation’s care and service workforces. We can support our international allies without setting a dangerous precedent that compromises our values. Any Republican arguments to the contrary are in service of a political agenda and not of working people. Congress must ensure that any negotiations prioritize preserving the integrity of our asylum system and allocate resources for its orderly and humane processing.”