Nonprofit Leaders Urge Senate to Reject Safety Net Cuts Targeting Immigrant Families

WASHINGTON — Leading nonprofit organizations focused on health, food security, economic security, and immigrant rights sent a letter to Senate leadership Tuesday, urging lawmakers to reject efforts to restrict immigrant families’ access to health care and social services. The letter was coordinated by Children Thrive Action Network (CTAN) and the Protecting Immigrant Families coalition (PIF). The letter’s 18 state and national organization signatories include the Center for Law and Social Policy, Community Catalyst, and the Food Research & Action Center.

“The reconciliation bill poses extreme risks for the country’s immigrant families and their health and economic security, as well as for the economy, and state and local budgets,” the letter reads.

As the letter details, the House budget bill includes proposals to deny health care and social services to millions of lawfully present immigrants and U.S. citizens in immigrant families. These cuts would partially offset the bill’s primary goals of slashing taxes for corporations and wealthy individuals and funding a massive immigration militarization agenda.

“Senators have to ask themselves whether they’re on the side of the families and communities they serve,” said PIF director Adriana Cadena. “Or whether they will join an attack on their own neighbors to hand tax breaks to billionaires and put kids in cages.”

The letter also stresses the broader impact of proposals to deny safety net services to immigrant families, noting in particular that immigrant families account for 27% of the nation’s population and are home to ¼ of U.S. children. It cites, in particular, consequences for state and local governments, businesses and nonprofits providing care and services, and lost economic productivity.

“This bill would turbocharge the devastation immigrant families are already experiencing,” said CTAN director and CLASP director of immigration, Wendy Cervantes. “If this bill becomes law, millions of children will go hungry, grow up sicker, and be potentially separated from their parents, ultimately threatening our country’s future for generations.”

Budget reconciliation legislation is exempt from filibuster in the U.S. Senate, making it easier to pass extremist policies that might otherwise fail to garner the 60-vote supermajority required for most legislation. But Senate Republicans have expressed concern about major provisions of the bill, and the slim Republican majority in the Senate means the radical package is not considered a lock for passage in that chamber.