3654 (2024). Ricardo Menéndez March to the Minister of Immigration

3654 (2024). Ricardo Menéndez March to the Minister of Immigration: Does the minister agree with the statement made by Member Erica Stanford in an RNZ interview on 04/09/2023: “And in my view, the right thing to do is allow them to work here legally. And I am tending towards giving them an open work visa to say to them, look, we understand that we created this government, the previous government, hopefully by that stage created a system where you were allowed to be exploited. And we will give you a three-year work visa, at which point you can work in New Zealand, at which point you'll be required to leave, which is what always was the case under the visa that they had before was a limited time work visa."; and why?

Hon Erica Stanford: I strongly agree with Member Erica Stanford that the right thing to do is to “allow them to work here legally ”. I consider the MEPV visa which allows people to work here legally to be an appropriate response to claims of migrant exploitation.