Two Democrats who are hoping to ascend to the 1st Congressional District Seat within the House of Representatives in the fall have both declared the need for a major overhaul of the nation’s immigration system and the creation of a pathway to US citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants already living and working in the United States.
The candidates made the comments on Tuesday night in the midst of their second debate. “We need a path to citizenship, we need a visa program that works the way it used to, we need the Dream Act to be adopted tomorrow,” Anne Throne-Holt, the former Town Supervisor of Southampton, told a crowd of supporters and residents, adding that Republicans never discuss the cost of mass deportations.
The sentiment was echoed by main opponent, David Calone, who went on to say that if he were to be elected to the House of Representatives he would sponsor a bill to make into law the executive order taken by President Barack Obama to bar the deportation of some undocumented immigrants. Calone said that the current immigration system has failed the millions of undocumented immigrants who already call the United States home.
Calone added that immigration is critical to the country’s future and the federal government should be actively encouraging foreign nationals who are educated in the United States to remain and become a part of the American workforce. “Onto every engineering degree, we need to staple a green card,” he declared.