The House adopted two proposals on Thursday that would legalize subsets of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the US without legal permission as Democrats estimate the odds of passing and sending immigration laws President Biden‘s desk.
Joined by nine Republicans, all House Democrats voted in favor of the American Dream and Promise Act, which passed by a vote of 228 to 197. The proposal would allow more than 2.3 million Dreamers, or unauthorized immigrants to come to the US as minors. came, allow. , as well as beneficiaries of certain temporary humanitarian programs, to obtain permanent legal status and ultimately U.S. citizenship.
The Democrat-led House also passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act 247 to 174, which will grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of farm workers living in the US without permission. Thirty Republicans voted in favor of the bill, and one Democrat voted against.
The two measures were recently reenacted after passing the House in 2019 with some Republican backing.
Immediately after the agricultural workers bill passed, Senators Michael Bennet, a Democrat, and Mike Crapo, a Republican, issued a statement saying they would introduce “ accompanying legislation ” in the Senate that would “ appropriately meet needs of both the industry and the farm workers who maintain. “
Since Mr. Biden to legalize most of the undocumented population was met with widespread Republican rejection, the standalone bills may represent the Democrats’ best chance of getting immigration laws through the evenly divided Senate.
“It has always been a pleasure for me to sing the praises of our dreamers. They make us so proud,” said house speaker Nancy Pelosi at an event with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in the Capitol prior to the vote. “For us, this is not only a day for passing legislation, but also a reason to celebrate.”
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
If the American Dream and Promise Act is legally signed into force, recipients of the Deferred Action Program for the Delayed Action for the Arrival of Obama-era Children (DACA) and other undocumented immigrants brought to the country before the age of 18, qualify for a conditional period of 10 years. permanent residence if they meet several requirements.
Potential applicants would be eligible to apply for permanent residency if they have obtained a university degree or enrolled in a bachelor’s degree for two years; if they have served in the military for at least two years; or if they worked in the US for three years.
More than 300,000 immigrants living in the US with temporary protected status and deferred forced departure, two provisional forms of humanitarian assistance, would automatically qualify for permanent residency under the law if they comply with eligibility rules, including the fact that they have lived in the US. for at least three years.
Unlike the 2019 release, the Dream Act passed by the House on Thursday would also allow children of temporary US work visa holders who are trapped in the disadvantaged employment-based green card process to change their status.
Seven Republican members of Congress joined 230 Democrats to pass the 2019 version of the House Dream Act, led by California Congressman Lucille Roybal-Allard.
Immigrant advocates and many Democrats consider passing the Dream Act an urgent priority due to the legal cloud hovering over the DACA program. While Mr. Biden has reversed former President Trump’s attempts to end DACA, a federal judge in Texas is expected to rule on the legality of the program.
Meanwhile, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act would allow immigrant farm workers to apply for temporary and renewable immigration status if they have worked at least 180 days in the US over a two-year period.
Eligible workers could apply for green cards if they have done additional agricultural work for four or eight years, depending on whether they have done such work for more than or less than 10 years.
The proposal, introduced by Democratic Congressman Zoe Lofgren and Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse, would also make several changes to the H-2A visa program for agricultural workers, including validating three-year visas.
In December 2019, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act passed the House with a vote of 260 to 165, with more than 20 Republican lawmakers voting with Democrats to approve the plan.
Last month, Congressional Democrats unveiled one broad review of immigration proposal based on a sketch prepared by Mr Biden’s team. Along with the expansion of legal immigration, investment in Central America and reorientation of border controls, the bill would create a large-scale, two-tier legalization program for a wide range of immigrants living in the US without permission.
Dreamers, TPS holders and farm workers would automatically qualify for green cards, while other undocumented immigrants could apply for temporary legal status. The latter group could apply for green cards with interim status after five years.
Although praised by progressives, Mr. Biden’s plan has not yet garnered public Republican backing in Congress. Earlier this week, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the second-highest Democrat in the Senate, suggested that Pelosi did not yet have enough votes in Parliament to secure passage of the bill there.
“I think that also indicates where it is in the Senate,” Durbin told reporters, saying he would negotiate with Republican senators to see if they would support the stand-alone bills for Dreamers, TPS holders and farm workers.