The Biden bill faces an upward battle, but such measures could happen

Immigration advocates and experts across the political spectrum do not expect the comprehensive immigration bill backed by President Joe Biden to pass in Congress as it stands, but areas where its priorities line up reveal the opportunities for bipartisan engagement.

On February 18, Democrats introduced the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which would establish an eight-year path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants, expand legal immigration routes, and reduce immigration. visa arrears, among other provisions.

Even after the presentation, bill sponsors recognized the possibility of a piece-by-piece alternative approach to passing immigration reform.

“We are following a ‘all of the above’ strategy,” said Linda Sanchez, D-California’s chief representative, at the press conference that introduced the bill. “All options are on the table and we hope to pass a strong immigration reform, but there are other big immigration bills that we will also take and hope they pass as well. “

Democrats have few minorities in both houses of Congress and legislation would require a minimum of ten Republican votes to defeat a Senate filibuster and move the bill to a final vote on the passage.

It is unlikely to happen with this comprehensive bill. Republican lawmakers do not support the broad path to citizenship for eleven million undocumented immigrants in particular and demand greater border security measures.

“There is no one to say that there is an easy way to pass this bill,” Jacinta González, senior campaign organizer for advocacy group Mijente, said Tuesday. “We have to be realistic and honest with our people about it.”

While advocates acknowledge that the comprehensive package is unlikely to be approved, they see the bill as a starting point for the legislative movement on immigration reform.

“There are pieces in this bill that have significant support that, if taken separately, could go into the law,” said Jorge Lima, senior vice president of politics at Americans for Prosperity, the conservative political advocacy group with the support of billionaire Charles Koch.

For two decades, lawmakers have proposed bipartisan legislation called the Dream Act that would provide a path to permanent legal residence and ultimately to the citizenship of some young, undocumented immigrants they brought to the United States as children, acquaintances. as “Dreamers.”

In 2012, President Barack Obama created the Deferred Action Program on Child Arrivals after the Dream Act failed to pass it several times in Congress. DACA protects undocumented young immigrants who would be covered by the Deportation Dreams Act, but does not provide a pathway to citizenship.

According to a June Pew Research Center survey, approximately three-quarters of Americans support granting permanent legal status to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children.

The U.S. Citizenship Act would provide green card eligibility to Dreamers who can provide a work history and the opportunity to apply for citizenship after three years.

“We understand the importance of this bill to our community of Dreamers, a community that has had to fight every step of the way to be heard,” said Sindy Marisol Benavides, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, 18.

It is estimated that 1.3 million individuals eligible for DACA paid $ 2.2 million in federal taxes and $ 1.8 billion in state and local taxes in 2017, according to an analysis by the research and advocacy organization bipartisan immigration New American Economy.

Immigration advocates pointed to the American Dream and Promise Act as a possible piece-by-piece bill.

The proposed legislation, passed in the House with bipartisan support in 2019, would create a path to citizenship for Dreamers and those with temporary protection status or deferred forced exit. These last two categories allow individuals from designated countries to remain in the United States due to conflicts or unsafe conditions in their home country.

“Addressing the undocumented population, particularly the Dreamers, is a big piece we can focus on. It seems to be the most promising one,” Lima told America’s Prosperity.

U.S. citizenship law would also give green card eligibility to agricultural workers who can provide a work history and the opportunity to apply for citizenship after three years.

More than a million undocumented agricultural workers make up 70% of the agricultural workforce, according to a 2020 report by the National Immigration Forum, an immigration advocacy group. Undocumented agricultural workers contribute $ 9 billion a year to the fruit and vegetable industry alone, according to the report.

“I’m thinking of our Republican members of Congress who are already coming out with statements … I just want to remind them of the food and vegetables they eat and the protein they choose to eat that was probably an immigrant who helped make sure they were nourishes, ”said Benavides of LULAC.

Lawyers and experts raised the Law on modernization of the agricultural workforce as an aspirant to independent reform.

Legislation passed in the House in 2019 would create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented agricultural workers and reform the existing H-2A temporary agricultural work visa program.

“We have an example of what happens when a bipartisan bill joins,” said David Bier, an immigration policy analyst at the libertarian think tank Cato Institute, on the Agricultural Workforce Modernization Act. “Historically, it has always been Republicans who have been pushing for the expansion of these temporary visa programs.”

The comprehensive immigration bill supported by Biden includes several provisions that would expand the avenues of legal immigration.

Proposed initiatives include raising the limit on employment-based immigrants, not counting spouses and children with employment-based green card limits, and removing graduates from U.S. universities with degrees from immigration limits. doctor in STEM fields.

“Improvements in corporate immigration, to me, are not at all obvious. It doesn’t matter which side of the aisle you are on. Almost all of these provisions are helpful,” said Emigration lawyer Eleanor Pelta.

Immigration advocates noted the impact of immigrants on the U.S. economy.

“The simple fact that smart people who work, take risks and want to come here is perhaps the biggest competitive advantage in the United States,” Jeremy Robbins, executive director of New American Economy, told City Hall Feb. 18. .

“Immigration brings new ideas, brings new energy and dynamism, makes communities more vibrant, and helps keep our economy stagnant,” Robbins said.