WASHINGTON DC – Enrique Fernandez, UNITE HERE Vice President for Immigration, Civil Rights, and Diversity, released the following statement:

“Last Tuesday, the Biden Administration announced an executive order placing severe restrictions on the refugee/asylum system. We are disappointed with this measure, which will not appease the administration’s far-right critics, but will make things harder for communities and asylum-seekers at the border.”

“Tens of thousands of our members are immigrants. They work as housekeepers, cooks, dishwashers, banquet waiters, and everything in between. Many UNITE HERE families came to this country as asylum seekers and refugees from places such as Sudan, Ethiopia, and Bosnia. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees brought families to Las Vegas where they got jobs on the Strip and became members of our union.”

“For years, Republicans have demonized immigrants and asylum seekers – a strategy that reached terrifying heights during the Trump administration. Now, it seems none of our political leaders have the will or capacity to fix our broken immigration system. Because of this, we recognize that President Biden has had to resort to executive orders and administrative decisions related to the immigration system – a far cry from the comprehensive immigration reform we all know is necessary.”

“We have applauded and appreciated many of these measures including the expansion/ extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), labor protections for non-authorized workers, prevailing wages and labor protections for guest worker visa programs, consideration of expanded work permits, and more. We also believe there is even more that this administration should do to increase pathways to legal status.”

“But the latest of these partial measures is a mistake and looks more like a political calculation than anything else. Asylum is an internationally recognized right, and shutting the border on those seeking it is wrong. We fear this order will degrade the situation at the border, and urge the President instead to stand firm on principle and provide local border communities with the support they need to receive and process asylees.”

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UNITE HERE is the hospitality workers’ union in the U.S. and Canada, representing 300,000 working people in hotels, gaming, food service, airports, and more. As the union of hospitality workers, immigrants are the majority of UNITE HERE’s membership.