An Oklahoma coalition has joined a national immigration reform movement.
The new Oklahoma chapter of FWD.us involves business, community and faith leaders. Tulsa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Francisco Trevino said it’s important businesses take the lead because they understand the economic implications of immigration.
By 2025, three-fourths of the workforce is going to be Hispanics. What are we going to do without 11 million people that are not going to be able to work if they're not here?" Trevino said.
Laura Bachman with YWCA Tulsa said the primary strategy is to change a narrative that currently paints immigrants as criminals and dehumanizes them to a more positive one.
Whether that's success in starting their own business and becoming a successful entrepreneur here in Oklahoma or a valedictorian of a high school or just the refugee coming in with nothing who then becomes a U.S. citizen and contributes to our local economy," Bachman said.
FWD.us supports secure borders, a modernized visa system and a pathway to citizenship for current undocumented immigrants, which includes overhauling existing statutes that often contradict each other.
"You cannot be in the United States unlawfully and adjust your status to permanent resident, but, at the same time, it's lawful for a U.S. citizen to petition for their immigrant spouse," Bachman said. "So, a U.S. citizen who tries to petition for their immigrant spouse can't always do that if their immigrant spouse is unlawfully present."
FWD.us Oklahoma says immigrants make up 6 percent of the state population and pay $346 million a year in state and local taxes. Roughly 96,000 of those immigrants are undocumented.
