Posted on 03/18/2021 5:49:54 PM PDT by Jonny7797
Lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Thursday passed two bills that would establish paths to citizenship or legal status for millions of undocumented immigrants, including those brought to the country unlawfully as children and workers in the agriculture sector.
The legislation was passed largely along partisan lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed.
The bills are narrower than the comprehensive immigration package introduced in February with the support of President Joe Biden. Even so, they face an uphill path to passage in the Senate, where 10 Republicans would be required to vote with every Democrat in order to approve them.
A bipartisan deal on immigration — a key priority for the Biden administration — has been complicated by recent events. Republicans have seized on a surge in unaccompanied minors who have been apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border in order to press for harsher immigration enforcement.
About 4,500 children are in the custody of Customs and Border Protection, the majority of which are located at a facility in Donna, Texas, an administration official said Thursday. Under Biden, more unaccompanied children are being allowed into the U.S. than under Trump, whose administration quickly expelled minors seeking entry into the country.
In a televised interview on ABC on Tuesday, Biden said: “I can say quite clearly: Don’t come,” adding that “we’re in the process of getting set up, don’t leave your town or city or community.”
The administration has called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help shelter and transfer the minors into more humane facilities, while refusing to call the situation a “crisis” or “emergency.” During a call with reporters on Wednesday, an unnamed administration official said the problem predated the Biden administration and said legislation was needed to address it.
“This is a whole government effort. We are managing the situation right now, but it is going to take time to repair the damage that’s been done,” the official said. “We also need to work with Congress to pass an immigration bill, that gives us more sensible laws to implement and enforce.”
The two bills that passed on Thursday are the American Dream and Promise Act and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.
The first would largely apply to those immigrants, known as Dreamers, who are protected under former President Barack Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. About 2.5 million people who arrived to the U.S. as children would be eligible for a path to citizenship under the law, according to its authors.
The act was passed 228-197, with nine Republicans joining Democrats in favor of the legislation.
The second bill would provide a path to legal status for farm workers who are in the country illegally, estimated to be at least half of the 2.4 million workers in the sector. Some agricultural workers would be permitted to gain a green card if they pay a fine and stay in the industry for an additional four to eight years, depending on how long they had already been doing farm work.
It passed 247-174, with 30 Republicans in favor and one Democrat opposed.
The bills are not as substantial as Biden’s immigration plan, the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which would have created a path to citizenship for most of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. Democratic and Republican leaders have said in recent days that such a sweeping proposal would have virtually no chance of gaining bipartisan support.
“I don’t see a means for reaching that,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the majority whip, told CNN. “I want it. I think we are much more likely to deal with discrete elements.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a leader on immigration policy in the Senate, said Monday that “It’s going to be really hard to get a bipartisan bill put together on anything that has a legalization component until you stop the flow.”
The White House formally backed both bills early Thursday in statements that also called on lawmakers to move forward with the Citizenship Act.
The usual Republipuke suspects will cave.
That’s ok, what counts is that we’re now getting rid of RINOs (like in Georgia) and replacing them with Democrats.
Happy now?
America was great while it lasted.
The Republicans support this.
We’re So Screwed.
“some agricultural workers would be permitted to gain a green card if they pay a fine and stay in the industry for an additional four to eight years, depending on how long they had already been doing farm work”
Slavery makes a comeback
Unfortunately Trump’s forte as President was pretty much just issuing Executive Orders that are just as quickly and easily undone. Nothing of a lasting nature, with the exception of the judge appointments, which may help slow down the Dem’s citizenship giveaway in the court - providing the appointees don’t turn leftward after a few years as is a common tendency, even with the Supremes.
Does not matter if they only want money you’re going to be Citizens or face Nancy’s Finger
Paul Ryan didn’t help that. When we controlled both houses, that little peckerwood rhino blocked Trump at every turn.
What a d1ck.
Doing the jobs Americans won’t do.
Deja vu from President Reagan.
Every, not each.
Same thing, “each” and “every.” Still singular.
“What a d1ck.”
Yea, but the RINOs from Georgia are gone, YIPEE!!!!!
Right?
Yes, both were RINOs. I want a new party. In lei of that I vote out RINOs. Mainstream Repuke-agains invertibrates like you need to learn that it is better to face off against teal Democrats than fake backstabbing Repukes.
Like I say, we’re not that far apart. I too want a new party, as I see NOTHING reforming the GOP...and it will need Trump, so hopefully he does just that. Short of that, I prefer holding as much ground as possible, and if it takes RINOs to do that, so be it, since it won’t be possible to even fight the Democrats in elections (third party or not) if they get too much power...just this ‘Election Reform’ bill is enough to end any hope of a 3rd Party or a reformed GOP having any power in the future.
Not sure of why the need for personal attacks, there are people here far worse than me. Last weekend I was arguing with a guy who INSISTED that Murkowski NOT be Primaried, and that she was actually better than Trump, while he attacked Trump. I may not match what you want in a conservative here, but that guy is FAR WORSE. As far as I’m concerned, Murkowski needs to be Primaried-out, for sure, and if she does make it to November, I’ll still want the bitch to win, just to hold the seat, but I will NEVER make an argument for her saying she’s better than Trump...and I only ever went after Trump in very specific areas, which were very few.
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