Immigrants from all over the world see America as a land of opportunity and this attracts many to live and work in our country and grow our diverse economy. Without immigrants, many farmers would be left without labor to produce the food we all need. Our broken immigration system and its complicated red tape is a detriment to immigrants wanting to come to our country and our nation’s farmers who depend on their labor. Congress needs to act and make immigration reform a priority on the agenda.

This will not be an easy task and complete bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform will take time to develop, however the BRIDGE Act is a piece of legislation that can be a great start in the right direction. The BRIDGE Act will have the power to protect over 500,000 immigrants from deportation while granting them work authority and a chance to receive a college education to help better our economy for the future.

It is for this reason that I urge Rep. Steve Stivers and Rep. Bill Johnson to cosponsor the BRIDGE Act in the House of Representatives, and Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown to cosponsor the BRIDGE Act in the Senate.

Mathew Hursey

Wilmington