Congresswoman Cori Bush Introduces Private Bill to Grant Permanent Residency Status to Alex Garcia
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) introduced a private bill which would grant permanent residency to Alex Garcia. Garcia, a husband and father of five, has been living in sanctuary at a St. Louis church for more than 3 years as a result of the United States’ broken and inhumane immigration system, which was worsened by the Trump administration's cruel family separation and deportation policies. Earlier today, Congresswoman Cori Bush hosted a virtual press conference to announce the introduction of the bill.
“Our immigration system as it stands today is a perpetrator of crimes against humanity,” said Congresswoman Cori Bush. “It is a system that separates children from parents, puts kids in cages, incentivizes dangerous crossings through unforgiving terrain, and offers limited pathways to citizenship. All the while, private detention centers profit off of the struggles of migrant communities. ICE and Customs and Border Patrol have created a culture of perpetual fear that terrorizes immigrant communities. It is a terror that has led us to this moment.”
“We are fighting for Alex because Alex belongs here,” the Congresswoman continued. “Because his family does not deserve this—no family deserves this. Because our community needs to be a place where immigrants are welcomed, safe, and have what they need to live a decent life. What is happening to Alex is unacceptable, and it is the manifestation of a system that criminalizes the experiences of Black and brown immigrants—that criminalizes the experience of human migration—for no good reason at all, and for reasons that have to do with systemic systems of white supremacy that we must dismantle. Bringing Alex home and so many others like him forced into sanctuary by cruel immigration policies is a priority in that work.”
“I believe from the bottom of my heart that Congresswoman Cori and her team will do everything in their power for my freedom,” said Alex Garcia. “I hope the private bill she is introducing for me will be the pathway for me to stay with my family forever. It means more than words can explain how I feel about the promise she has made to me, my family and other families living the same injustices as we are.”
“I am so grateful to have met Congresswoman Cori and her team,” said Carly Garcia. “She is the champion we have all been waiting for: to take a stand against racism and fight against the injustices we have all endured over the years. I am so glad she is introducing a private bill that would allow my husband to stay because existing laws have failed us over and over again. It means the world to me that she and her team are so eager to help me pick up the pieces of my family that was torn apart by inhumane and unjust laws. Words can never express the gratitude and love I have for this strong amazing woman.”
In her remarks, the Congresswoman highlighted how much the community has rallied around Mr. Garcia: “When asked what Alex means to them, a community member said that, “Alex Garcia is the finest human being I've met in my 72 years.” Another wrote, “I never realized the damage our policies have done till I met Alex and his amazing family. I have never met a kinder, more deserving man. He is a gift to all of us and this country he calls home.” Yet another wrote, “Alex fled extreme poverty and violence and has led a quintessential American life in small town Missouri. He is the most brave and kind person I've ever met. Alex is the kind of neighbor you'd want living next door. He and his family deserve to live together, right here in the heartland of our beautiful, big-hearted country.”
The Congresswoman introduced the private bill this morning after meeting with Mr. Garcia and his family at the Christ Church UCC in Maplewood, Missouri last week.
Text of the bill can be viewed here. The virtual press conference can be viewed here. Photos of the Congresswoman and Alex Garcia from their meeting at the Church in St. Louis last week can be found here. To receive a downloadable copy of the press conference, please email: Gloria.Nlewedim@mail.house.gov.
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Alex Garcia took refuge in Christ Church UCC Maplewood in 2017 after the Trump administration denied his petition for a stay of removal. A construction worker from Honduras, he has called Poplar Bluff, Missouri home since 2004. He married Carly, a U.S. citizen, in 2010. He has five children, all born in the U.S. Garcia is one of about 50 undocumented immigrants living in sanctuary in churches across the United States.
Congresswoman Cori Bush represents Missouri’s First Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. She serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. She is also a Deputy Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a proud member of the Congressional Black Caucus. She is a registered nurse, single mother, and an ordained pastor. Following the murder of Michael Brown Jr. by a now-terminated Ferguson police officer, she became a civil rights activist and community organizer fighting for justice for Black lives on the streets of Missouri and across the country.