STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June, 18, 2024

CONTACT:
James Woo, Advancing Justice-Atlanta, jwoo@advancingjustice-atlanta.org

The Georgia Immigrants Rights Alliance (GIRA) issues the following statement on recent presidential executive action that would help keep Georgia families together.

Outdated immigration policies and congressional inability to update them has meant that thousands of “mixed-status” families, or Georgia families that include U.S. citizens, undocumented individuals and other immigration statuses, continue to experience heightened fear and vulnerability to deportation and family separation.

Today's executive action creates a process allowing some undocumented spouses and children who have lived in the U.S for at least ten years to apply for lawful permanent residence. This single change protects an estimated 12,000 Georgia families from the threat of family separation. Potential beneficiaries living in Georgia have been in the state for an average of 23 years and are an average of 39 years old. Many are parents to U.S. citizen children. 

The second part of the Executive Order would allow DACA recipients to more easily apply for employer-sponsored work visas, providing greater stability to both individuals and employers.

“Though we know many Georgians with longstanding ties to their communities who are still waiting for pathways to live with more freedom and security, this policy is a significant step forward that will benefit many Georgia families, including our clients and communities,” says Murtaza Khwaja, Executive Director of Asian-Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta, a GIRA member that provides legal services to many individuals in mixed-status families.

“Migrant Equity Southeast (MESE) celebrates parole-in-place being extended to thousands more immigrants. Simultaneously, we urge the Biden Administration to take similar steps for the millions of immigrants who have been in the United States for more than ten years. This is exceedingly important at a time when laws like HB 1105 threaten the South Georgia immigrant community,” says Eduardo Delgado, Civic and Advocacy Coordinator MESE, a GIRA member organization that advocates for immigrants in south and coastal Georgia.

###

The Georgia Immigrant Rights Alliance (GIRA) is a statewide coalition of immigrant and refugee- led community organizations that coordinate advocacy on policies that affect immigrant and refugee communities.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI), and other marginalized communities in Georgia and the Southeast