Boulder County commissioners recently endorsed a series of bills and resolutions regarding work authorization for immigrants, according to a press statement.

Commissioner Marta Loachamin joined several bipartisan local commissioners and officials who sent a letter urging President Joe Biden to pass new legislation to grant longer working permits to immigrants, immigrant spouses, “Dreamers” unable to receive Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and workers who have no direct path to legal working status in the United States.

The American Business Immigration Coalition proposed the letter to Biden. Several congressional representatives supported it and more than 150 state and local representatives endorsed it, including Loachamin.

The proposal urges Biden to create work permits for “Dreamers” under the age of 18 who are unable to receive DACA, institute a long-term work permit under “significant public benefit” arrangements in Biden’s administration and include U.S citizens as well as their mixed-status families in the current parole-in-place program for relatives and spouses of the military.

The proposed bill points out several ways that extended work permits would benefit the overall economy and individual workers. The resolutions minimize cases of labor exploitation as well as increasing tax revenue, according to the American Immigration Council.

“Boulder County stands with legislators and organizations from across the country in calling for President Biden to use the administration’s broad statutory authority to support our immigrant communities by granting access to meaningful work permit programs,” Loachim said in a statement.

In February, Commissioner Ashley Stolzmann, with the backing of Commissioner Claire Levy and Loachamin, received near unanimous support at the National Association of Counties Annual conference for a resolution calling on the Biden administration to shorten the current waiting period for asylum seekers who are applying for a work permit.Boulder County also supported House Bill 24-1280, which would provide grants to community-based organizations that provide culturally and linguistically appropriate navigation of services and programs to migrants who are within one year of arrival in the United States.

“We acknowledge that immigrants bring an abundance of perspectives and skills that too often are not maximized or are not given the opportunity to integrate into a new environment,” Loachamin said in a statement. “We appreciate that community-based organizations provide an amazing amount of service for new Americans and this bill will provide needed funding of supportive and uplifting services as migrants make Colorado a new home.”