Democrats had wanted more immigration progress for those migrating to this country and those who have been here for a long time waiting for citizenship…
What they were able to pass in the House is something of a weaker compromise….
We’ll see what happens in the Senate….
The American Congress has NOT addressed Immigration reform since 2006…
In fact the countries immigration policy changes from one Presidential admin to the next thru Executive actions....
The social spending bill approved by the House Friday in a 220-213 vote includes the most extensive immigration reform package reviewed by Congress in 35 years, albeit in a much reduced version from what proponents originally sought.
If the provision is approved by the Senate as-is, the immigration measure in the bill would allow undocumented people present in the U.S. since before 2011 up to 10 years of work authorization, falling short of an initial goal to offer them a pathway to citizenship.
The provision approved by the House offers a sort of waiver to immigration laws, using a process known as parole to allow people to stay in the country for five years with the option to extend for another five years thereafter.
About 6.5 million people would stand to benefit from the measure directly, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
According to that analysis, about 3 million of those people would become eligible to springboard from the parole status to legal permanent residency, the first step toward citizenship.
“CHC remains focused on passing immigration reform. The Build Back Better Act includes long-term work permits and protections for seven million hardworking immigrant essential workers that will help prevent family separation, stabilize our workforce, boost our economy, and create jobs,” said Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Chair Raúl Ruiz (D-Calif.)….
…
The bill also includes visa recapture, preventing the loss of some 222,000 unused family-based visas and 157,000 employment-based visas that otherwise expired at the end of last fiscal year. The move will help retain immigration pathways for those abroad who often wait years to immigrate to the U.S.
The inclusion of immigration provisions has taken a secondary role in the political fight to craft President Biden‘s signature legislative package, as Democrats have publicly quarreled about the top-line pricing of the bill…
…
At the center of that friction was the debate over whether Democrats should push for a path to citizenship in the bill, or settle for parole — only a temporary respite from immigration enforcement for millions of immigrants….
My Name Is Jack says
Based on increasing Hispanic support for anti immigration reform Republicans?
Apparently this isn’t a major issue for a substantial number of Hispanic voters .
As a straight political issue?Democrats may wish to reassess their push for such.
jamesb says
Agreed on ur view on immigration
Zreebs says
Republicans have convinced the country that the USA is currently overrun with immigrants.
jamesb says
Polling shows that Most Americans do NOT support ‘open borders’
But DO support citizenship for for those here that are here that work and have stayed out of trouble…..
Zreebs says
Obviously, we don’t have open borders, nor should we. And there is no one prominent in Democratic leadership that supports open borders.
Keith says
And Republicans have stopped all attempts at reordering the system. The racist base won’t stand for it.
Zreebs says
Keith, not sure I understand your point.
What does reordering the system mean?
jamesb says
True THAT Z on border policy
Scott P says
As Zreebs notes no one supports open borders though the GOP has tried to paint a picture of a country overrun with Spanish speaking immigrants. It is nothing new that even among second or third generation Hispanic voters this resonates. All through American history fear of the most recent immigrant group was often felt most strongly among those who arrived in the US slightly earlier.
As the “Hispanic vote” is not a monolith one can easily see where the anti-immigrant fervor on the right could resonate with some Mexican-Americans in rural South Texas or Cuban-Americans in South Florida fearful of Guatemalan or Dominican immigrants more recent to the US. Especially if they are in LA or NYC (fear of cities is another Republican tactic that could play in this).
jamesb says
Good info Scott…..
A bit more complex, eh?