Earlier this summer, the Senate and House advanced a $3.5 trillion dollar budget that included more than $100 billion dollars for immigration reform. But on Sunday, a Senate parliamentarian ruled against putting that spending proposal from Democrats in the budget.
Now, four migrant farmworkers from Michigan are joining 20 others from across the country to demand Congress act on legislation for people like them.
Gricelda is one of those workers traveling to Washington D.C. Monday. She’s worked at a dairy farm in Allegan County for the last 16 years.
“Yo creo que nos merecemos la legalización pues somos los que hacemos el trabajo duro del campo. Ahora que estuvo la pandemia fue mortal y todos los campesinos tuvimos que salir a trabajar sin importar la pandemia los climas. Nosotros no paramos de trabajar.”
She says farmworkers deserve citizenship because they’re the ones doing hard work in the field. She adds during the pandemic they put their lives on the line, having to continue working in person.
Gricelda says she hopes Senators realize farmworkers like herself are the ones who are keeping American households fed.