In Washington, D.C., immigrant justice advocates were joined by progressive lawmakers as they rallied to demand Congress and President Biden include a path to citizenship in the Build Back Better reconciliation bill. This is Hwangchan Yu with the HANA Center in Chicago, who immigrated to the U.S. as a child.

Hwangchan Yu: “In this rare moment, we can use the process to take a step forward for the needs of people. We need our whole humanity. We need our full lives. And that means fighting for citizenship through registry, and that means disregarding the parliamentarian. Immigrants are essential, and we make this country exist in the first place. We ain’t here for a parole, and we aren’t compromising our lives. And that’s the bottom line.”