Some immigrants protest in Washington on the day the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump‘s decision to halt the DACA policy in June 2020.
Democrats in the U.S. Congress unveiled a major immigration reform bill Thursday (Feb. 18) that would provide an eight-year path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants who have stayed in the country in recent years.
The measure was backed by President Biden and is consistent with the plan he laid out on his first day in office.
The bill, details of which were released on Thursday morning, includes an increase in visas, funding for processing asylum claims and providing new technology at the southern border. But the immigration bill will not, in fact, be easy to get through Congress.
The bill would provide the fastest path to citizenship for illegal immigrants in recent years, and it does not include any policies to strengthen border security. In past immigration negotiations in Congress, border security has often been a way to win Republican votes. Outsiders predict that without enhanced border security, the new bill may face a tough breakthrough in a deeply divided Congress.
The bill would immediately provide green cards for farm workers, people with temporary protected status and young people who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children (Dreamers, DACA).
For illegal immigrants living in the U.S. before Jan. 1, 2021, the bill would create a five-year temporary legal status for them to obtain a green card if they pass a background check, pay taxes, and meet other basic requirements. After three years they would be eligible to apply to become U.S. citizens.
The new bill would increase the maximum number of visas that the United States can grant to relatives and employment-based immigrants from various countries, and would repeal an immigration ban that imposed a three-year bar on re-entry for 180 days of illegal residence and a 10-year bar on re-entry for one year of illegal residence.
The bill would also provide resources for additional judges, assistance personnel and technology to address the backlog of asylum cases.
At the same Time, the bill would expand transnational drug task forces in Central America and strengthen technology at the border. Efforts to ease the border burden by establishing a refugee processing mechanism in Central America to prevent the migrant caravan that has overwhelmed border security in recent years. In addition, $4 billion in federal funding would be allocated over four years for programs to promote economic development and address corruption in Latin American countries.
The bill is sponsored by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.Y.), and a dozen Democratic lawmakers.
Menendez was part of a bipartisan “Gang of Eight” of senators who negotiated an immigration reform bill that ultimately ended in failure in 2013. Previously, an immigration bill backed by former President George W. Bush Jr. also failed after several attempts at compromise.
For decades, comprehensive immigration reform has struggled to gain momentum in Congress.
Biden said on CNN Tuesday (16) that he was open to a piecemeal approach to the bill, but that providing a path to citizenship is essential in any immigration bill. He said, “There are some things I will handle on my own.”
Biden’s remarks were taken as an indication that the U.S. may leave the door open for a separate bill that provides a pathway to citizenship for different groups of people.
Still, in public the White House stressed that its goal is a comprehensive plan.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “The president believes that all of these requirements, components of the bill are what make the immigration bill comprehensive, and that these are issues that need to be addressed. That’s why he’s bringing them together.”
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