Ashby Rips Hochul Veto Of Bill To Help Veterans' Loved Ones Join Our American Family

“This year, our state legislature accomplished something both historic and increasingly unusual. We passed meaningful immigration reform in bipartisan, unanimous fashion. We would’ve been the first state in the country to provide  resources to help the undocumented family members of veterans become American citizens.

“We would’ve honored the legacy of SSG Alex Jimenez, a hero who laid down his life for the country he loved. While he was missing in action, his wife was facing deportation. As a legislature, we acted with one purpose and spoke with one voice- never again.

“The governor vetoed the bill. It’s hard to understand and impossible for me to accept. She said that it was creating a “duplicative” service, a cruelly ironic description of badly needed legal services for people who have not been helped by any state or federal agency and remain undocumented.

“The governor continues to balk at the notion that programming for veterans and their family members belongs under the auspices of her own Veterans’ Services Department, perhaps because it would mean that she would need to staff it and fund it properly.

“We will pass this bill again because it’s the right thing to do. It’s right to honor the sacrifices of veterans and their families. It’s right to invest resources in legal pathways to citizenship. It’s right to help hardworking people escape from the shadows and to welcome them into the American family their own loved ones fought to protect. I’m urging the governor to do the right thing and include this program in her Executive Budget proposal.”