The House approved two proposals on Thursday which would legalize the subsets of the estimate 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. without legal permission, as Democrats measure the chances of passing immigration legislation and sending it to President Bidendesk.
United by nine Republicans, all House Democrats voted to pass the American Dream and Promise Act, which was passed by a vote of 228 to 197. The proposal would allow more than 2.3 million “Dreamers” or non-Dreamers immigrants. authorized to come to the U.S. as minors. , as well as beneficiaries of certain temporary humanitarian programs, to obtain permanent legal status and, ultimately, U.S. citizenship.
The Democratic-led House also passed Law 247 to 174 on Modernizing the Agricultural Workforce that will grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of agricultural workers living in the United States without authorization. Thirty Republicans voted in favor of the bill and one Democrat voted against it.
Both measures were recently reintroduced after the House passed in 2019 with some Republican support.
Immediately after the Farm Workers Bill was passed, Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat, and Mike Crapo, a Republican, issued a statement saying they would introduce “complementary legislation” in the Senate that “adequately met the needs of both industry as well as agricultural workers. defend it “.
Given that Mr. Biden to legalize the majority of the country’s undocumented population has been rejected with widespread Republican rejection, independent laws may represent the best chance for Democrats to obtain immigration legislation through the divided Senate.
“It has always been a pleasure for me to sing the praises of our Dreamers. They make us so proud,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at an event with the Hispanic Congress Caucus at the Capitol before the vote. “For us, this is a day that not only adopts legislation, but a reason to celebrate.”
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
If passed, the American Dream and Promise Act would allow recipients of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program and other undocumented immigrants brought into the country under the age of 18 to be able to bid for a 10-year conditionality period. permanent residence if they meet several requirements.
Applicants would be eligible to apply for permanent residency if they obtained a college degree or enrolled in a high school program for two years; if they served in the military for at least two years; or if they worked in the United States for a period of three years.
More than 300,000 immigrants living in the United States with temporary protection status and deferred forced exit, two temporary forms of humanitarian aid, would automatically be eligible to apply for permanent residency under the bill if they meet the eligibility rules, which include having lived in the United States. for at least three years.
Unlike its 2019 version, the Dream Act passed Thursday by the House would also allow children of U.S. temporary work visa holders caught up in the backward employment-based green card process to adjust their status.
Seven Republican members of Congress joined 230 Democrats to pass the 2019 version of the House Dream Act, which has been led by California Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard.
Immigrant advocates and many Democrats see passing the Dream Act as an urgent priority because of the legal cloud hanging over the DACA program. Although Biden has reversed former President Trump’s efforts to end DACA, a Texas federal judge is expected to rule on the legality of the program.
Meanwhile, the Agricultural Workforce Modernization Act would allow immigrant agricultural workers to apply for temporary, renewable immigration status if they have worked at least 180 days in the United States over a two-year period.
Eligible workers could apply for green cards if they have completed four or eight years of additional agricultural work, depending on whether they have done this work for more or less than ten years.
The proposal, presented by Democratic Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren and Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse, would also introduce several changes to the H-2A visa program for agricultural workers, including the possibility of visas for three years.
In December 2019, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act passed the House by a vote of 260 to 165 votes, with more than 20 Republican lawmakers voting with Democrats to approve the plan.
Last month, congressional Democrats unveiled one extensive review of immigration proposal based on a scheme drawn up by Mr Biden’s team. Along with expanding legal immigration, investing in Central America, and reorienting border controls, the bill would create a massive two-tier legalization program for a broad group of immigrants living in the United States. without authorization.
Dreamers, TPS holders, and farm workers would be automatically eligible to receive green cards, while other undocumented immigrants could apply for temporary legal status. The latter group could apply for green cards after five years with provisional status.
Although it won praise from progressives, the plan advocated by Mr. Biden has not yet garnered any Republican public support in Congress. Earlier this week, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate, suggested that Pelosi did not yet have enough votes in the House to secure the passage of the bill.
“I think that also indicates where he is in the Senate,” Durbin told reporters, saying he would start negotiating with Republican senators to see if they would support independent bills for Dreamers, TPS holders and farm workers.