Poder Latinx Convenes Gwinnett County Community Leaders Breakfast Roundtable with U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 2, 2021
CONTACT:
Jackie Smith | 989| 576-1996 jsmith@poderlatinx.org
Poder Latinx Convenes Gwinnett County Community Leaders Breakfast Roundtable with U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux
ATLANTA- Last Friday, Poder Latinx proudly convened a Breakfast Roundtable with Gwinnett County community leaders for a discussion with U.S. Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux (GA-7) on the issues impacting the community. Among the issues discussed were immigration, paid leave, care, worker’s rights, and student debt.
The following statements are from Poder Latinx and other participating organizations. The event was attended by Poder Latinx, Georgia Familias Unidas, GALEO Impact Fund, Inc., Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, FWD.us, Care in Action, Working Families Party, and Asian American Advocacy Fund.
“We appreciate the willingness of Representative Bourdeaux to meet with community leaders to discuss important issues impacting our community. The Georgia Latinx community has faced enough throughout this pandemic, we must have access to 12 weeks of paid leave to ensure a way to recover. We are glad to hear Rep. Bourdeaux is in support of 12 weeks of paid leave, and call on her to champion the Build Back Better agenda including issues such as immigration reform and climate investments,” said Susana Durán, Georgia State Director of Poder Latinx.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to hear from passionate activists and leaders from our community. We have made great progress with the many proposed Build Back Better initiatives and are working to pass this historic package that meets the longstanding needs of our community. I look forward to continuing to work with those making change in our communities every day,” said Congresswoman Carolyn Bourdeaux (GA-7).
“Today, on behalf of our GAFU community of poultry plant workers and additional immigrant essential workers who are constituents in the district, we asked Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux to remember the many lives lost and unnecessary physical pain caused due to unsafe workplace conditions because of our broken immigration system. Our community mostly contributes to essential jobs that never had time off during the pandemic and jobs that are so dangerous labor shortages are disproportionately seen in these low-wage industries. We hope to see immigration and economic policy addressed in a way that aids our community because we know how much our country’s ecosystem also depends on our contributions,” said Maria del Rosario Palacios, Co-founder of Georgia Familias Unidas.
“It was an honor meeting Representative Bourdeaux in-person. I'm happy to know that she is defending the interests of the Latino community in her district on Capitol Hill,” said David Garcia, Director of Public Policy and Advocacy of GALEO Impact Fund, Inc.
"Today the GA Coalition for the People's Agenda joined activists and organizations to sit down with Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux to discuss the Build Back Better plan, healthcare, economic equity, immigration reform, and other key issues. We appreciate Representative Bourdeaux spending time listening and sharing her viewpoints and plans. We hope the discussion can translate into actions and change for Georgia's most vulnerable populations including children, immigrants who have waited for fulfilled promises, undocumented workers-especially those in unsafe working conditions, and others. We are, as always, proud to work alongside so many amazing organizations and organizers to make a better Georgia for all," said Cindy Battles, Policy & Engagement Director for Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda.
“I came to the U.S. when I was less than a year old. Georgia is the only home I’ve ever known, and, thanks to DACA, it’s where I’ve built a family, life, and career. There are thousands of other Dreamers and undocumented immigrants in Georgia with similar stories who have been left to live in fear and uncertainty due to congressional inaction on immigration. Congress has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to enact transformative immigration relief that allows millions of immigrants like me to adjust our status. I thank and urge Congresswoman Bourdeaux and other Georgia Democratic leaders in Congress to remain committed to providing this relief via the budget reconciliation process," said Jaime Rangel, DACA Recipient and FWD.us Georgia State Immigration Manager.
“We thank Representative Bourdeaux for her commitment to investing at least $150B in home- and community-based services, as announced in President Biden’s Build Back Better framework. This popular and long-overdue investment would be transformative for Georgia. Fully-funded HCBS means Georgian seniors, people with disabilities, and veterans can access affordable, high quality in-home care and home care workers — the vast majority of whom are Black, Latinx, women of color, and immigrants — are paid fair wages for their essential work. In the coming weeks, we will continue fighting to extend benefits like paid leave to care workers and workers across the country," said Jasmine Bowles, Georgia State Director of Care in Action.
“After much conversation about the budget reconciliation, we are hopeful that a pathway to citizenship will make its way into the final budget package. We called on Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux to be the champion and a voice for immigrants in Georgia’s 7th district and to ensure that our communities get meaningful reform now," said Aisha Yaqoob Mahmood, Executive Director, Asian American Advocacy Fund.
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Poder Latinx’s mission is to build a political wave where Latinx communities, immigrants, and people of color are decision-makers in this country’s democracy.