The head of the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights organization presented Congress with a simple recipe for Hispanic prosperity on Thursday: spend President BidenJoe BidenBiden says he didn’t ‘overpromise’ Finnish PM to promise ‘extremely tough’ sanctions if Russia invades Ukrainefrom Build Back Better Bill, promote home ownership and implement immigration reform.

UnidosUS President Janet Murguía plans to tell the House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth that structural factors perpetuate economic gaps that hinder productivity and perpetuate income and wealth gaps.

“Latinos have incredible resilience and courage – I urge you to imagine the contributions they could make to the economy if our community had a fair and equal chance to thrive,” Murguía said in prepared statements obtained by The Hill.

Murguía’s comments will come as part of a committee hearing on race and inequality.

According to a UnidosUS study, Latina-headed families have a median net worth equal to one nickel per dollar of white male-headed families, and about a penny per dollar compared to the net worth of male-headed families. white women.

In his written testimony to the committee, Murguía wrote that black families have a median net worth of $24,000, Hispanic families $36,000, and white families $188,000.

“The timing has never been more critical: Latinos are more likely to die of COVID-19, less likely to have health insurance, and more likely to struggle to make ends meet. It’s important to note that the systems that exacerbate inequality and prevent Latinos from creating wealth can be solved,” Murguía said.

Murguía pointed to child tax credit provisions in the Build Back Better bill, saying monthly payments instituted by the Biden administration — which recently expired — have kept 3.8 million children from living in poverty.

Biden’s massive spending agenda is currently stalled in the Senate. Biden admitted on Wednesday that his signature legislation would have a better chance of reaching his desk piecemeal.

“Second, home ownership is the most powerful strategy for closing the racial and ethnic wealth gap,” Murguía said.

She called on Congress to approve down payment assistance and improve housing availability to achieve that goal, but also tied investment in education and student aid to home ownership.

“And to enable savings that enable homeownership and financial well-being, Congress should make college education fairer by investing in completion scholarships and canceling student loan debt,” said said Murguía.

The UnidosUS chief added that immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants would benefit the economy as a whole.

“Immigrants have long been part of the solution to labor shortages, but last year the United States experienced the lowest levels of international migration in decades,” she said. .

The original version of Biden’s spending package included a path to citizenship for the majority of the country’s nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants, but that number was reduced during negotiations with the Senate congressman.

Because Democrats are trying to push the BBB through without Republican support, they must abide by stricter Senate rules that allow them to bypass a would-be filibuster and approve the legislation with 50 votes and the tiebreaker of the Vice President Harris.

Despite parliamentarians’ refusals to accept immigration provisions in this process, many advocates still view the piecemeal BBB as the best possible vehicle to include any sort of broad immigration benefits for immigrants. illegal immigrant.