S.J. Res. 99

Floor Speech

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Ms. ROSEN. Mr. President, I rise today in support of our workers, our businesses, and our economy. Specifically, I am here to talk about my resolution, which we will be voting on shortly, to protect the millions of workers who could lose their jobs because of an extreme Trump administration rule.

This is an issue that affects all of us because, well, let me tell you, when industries like agriculture and construction lose workers, it impacts their supply chains and prices go up.

In my State of Nevada and across every single State in this Nation, our economy, well, it is fueled by our workers. This includes thousands of individuals who live in this country legally. Thousands of individuals who live in this country legally, who have legal authorization to work, and who show up every single day to do the jobs that keep our communities running.

These workers, they are doing everything that is asked of them. They have been vetted. They are playing by the rules. They are paying their taxes. And yet today, because of a misguided rule change by the Trump administration, many of them are at risk of losing their jobs and their livelihoods through no fault of their own. That is because workers with employment authorization documents, also known as work permits, must renew them every few years, but they can only file that paperwork 6 months before their permit expires.

While 6 months seems like a long time, the processing delays at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, especially under this administration, are even longer. They can stretch well beyond 6 months.

And so for years, there had been a simple, commonsense solution. If a worker filed their renewal on time, their current work permit would be automatically extended while the government finished processing their application. It is the government that was slow, not the worker.

This way, people wouldn't have a gap in work authorization. This policy kept people working. It provided stability for businesses, and it prevented needless disruptions to our economy.

But last fall, that changed. The Trump administration issued a rule that fully eliminated these automatic extensions, pulling the rug out from under workers who did everything right.

Now, these individuals face an impossible choice: stop working and lose their income and their ability to provide for their family or risk working without authorization and risk deportation.

It also puts our business owners in a terrible position. Employers are going to be forced to go without workers or have to let go of workers whose work permits expired because the government took too long to issue their renewals. That is why many business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are opposed to this reckless Trump rule.

They know it will affect key industries like agriculture and food processing, construction and even childcare. And we know what happens when there are fewer workers able to meet demands: Prices go up.

So think about it. More than 3.5 million legally authorized workers nationwide could be impacted by this misguided rule. In construction alone, roughly 600,000 workers could be forced off the job, right as we face a critical shortage of labor needed to build much needed housing across America. In Nevada, we already have 11,000 fewer construction workers than we did just a year ago, and even more workers are sidelined because of paperwork delays.

What is this going to mean? Projects are going to stall, costs will rise, working families will feel it in the form of higher housing prices and fewer available homes. And it doesn't stop there.

In hospitality, an industry that is the backbone of Nevada's economy, more than half a million workers nationwide could be affected. So for a State like mine, where tourism drives growth and supports countless small businesses, losing thousands of workers in our hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues would be devastating.

Fewer workers means reduced capacity. It means lower service levels. It means lost revenue, not just for our businesses but for entire communities that depend upon a strong tourism economy. And that is wrong. It is just wrong.

It is why I introduced a resolution under the Congressional Review Act to overturn this harmful Trump rule. My legislation would restore automatic extensions for workers who have already been vetted and who have their work permits while their paperwork is being processed.

This is about fairness. It is about stability, and it is about helping our workers and our businesses.

So today I am asking my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in taking a simple step, a vote to support workers and the business community. So let's overturn this harmful rule change that will hurt families, small businesses, large businesses, and our entire economy. Let's put America's workers--again, our businesses, everything, our economy--first by reinstating automatic extensions for work permit renewals. If we don't, we risk losing 3.5 million workers from our workforce. And trust me; we will all pay the price.

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