HIRONO / JAYAPAL / CÁRDENAS BILL A RACE EQUITY PRIORITY, ADVOCATES SAY

WASHINGTON — Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington) and Tony Cárdenas (D-California) today introduced legislation reversing the “five-year bar,” a 1996 policy that denies eligibility for federal assistance programs to millions in the families of people with “green cards” and other immigrants who are lawfully present in the United States. The Lifting Immigrant Families Through Benefits Access Restoration (LIFT the BAR) Act has 100 original cosponsors in the United States House of Representatives and 11 original cosponsors in the U.S. Senate. Polling by the Protecting Immigrant Families coalition finds that ¾ of Americans favor the policy change proposed by the LIFT the BAR Act. In response to the bill’s introduction, the PIF coalition released the following statement from its director, Adriana Cadena:

“Every year, the five-year bar denies millions of families, especially families of color, the basics every family should have. Passing the LIFT the BAR Act is an essential step toward race equity, and quarter-century is more than long enough to wait for justice. Congressional Democrats must make this bill a priority in 2023.”