The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Biden,

As employers from across our nation, we appeal to you for urgent action on expanding work authorization for long-term immigrant contributors and new arrivals. 

For far too long, business leaders and employers of small and large operations across the U.S. have been struggling with labor shortages, bureaucratic delays in the processing of visas for foreign workers, and other issues stemming from the outdated immigration system. When we all work together, our economy will work for all of us. Immigrants are here to work.

Our immigration system is too broken to ignore. Economic and humanitarian emergencies require immediate action, and your administration has the authority to do more under current law. We respectfully request that you expand work authorization for individuals who can fill positions facing a labor shortage, both for people migrating to the U.S. as well as for long-term immigrant contributors. 

You have several powerful means of doing so at your disposal that require no changes to current law - the expansion of parole for long-term contributors, including Dreamers with DACA and the spouses of U.S. Citizens; redesignation of Temporary Protected status (TPS); and Deferred Enforced Departure. In addition to employers, bipartisan governors and elected officials support expanding work authorizations, including Republican governors Eric Holcomb of Indiana and Spencer Cox of Utah, and Democratic Governors JB Pritzker of Illinois and Kathy Hochul of New York. 

The need for immediate action is underscored by economic data and reports from employers who are suffering losses due to work. As the U.S. Chamber of Commerce noted in a September report, “If every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have around 4 million open jobs.”

Business owners and industry leaders must be able to hire migrants who want to work in the U.S. and contribute to our economy as they try to better the lives of their families. 

With congressional action on permanent immigration reform gridlocked, we look to your administration to expand the use of visas under current regulations and give states the authority to act on their workforce needs, so that migrants are treated humanely and businesses can rev up the engines that drive state and national economies.

Sincerely,