Contact: Michelle Loo, [email protected]
Washington, DC - Yesterday, President Biden announced the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better budget framework that will bring us closer to a more fair and just economy for workers and families. APALA supports this framework and will continue organizing for the key provisions that our communities still need.
For example, the framework proposes to invest $150 billion in home and community-based care and introduce a tax credit that will lower the cost of an electric vehicle made by union workers. These are just two large provisions that AAPI workers, seniors, and people with disabilities need in order to receive quality care and support good paying union jobs.
We are disappointed that the framework excludes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented folks and many TPS holders. But, the framework does include $100 million for family based immigration reform that will help tens of thousands of immigrant families reunite with their loved ones. This is crucial for AAPI workers as 40% of families stuck in bureaucratic backlogs for visas are Asian.
There are more key provisions for climate, child tax credit, universal pre-k, housing, and others.
Alvina Yeh Executive Director of APALA states, “I am proud of the decades of grassroots organizing that brought some of the most radical worker and immigration provisions to the table. As the Build Back Better and Infrastructure bills make their way through Congress, APALA is determined to fight for the priorities that have been excluded from the framework - such as universal access to paid family and medical leave, free community college, and a pathway to citizenship.”