Biden’s spending plan is “not good enough” on immigration: defenders Migration News

Washington, DC – Legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives this month advanced President Joe Biden’s ambitious $ 1.75 trillion internal spending plan to expand the nation’s social security network and tackle climate change over the next 10 years.

Members of Biden’s Democratic Party tried to include in the legislation provisions that would pave the way for about 11 million citizens. undocumented immigrants Living in the United States.

But in the middle intense Republican opposition and the Senate rules Preventing major policy changes in budget measures, a provision that would give “conditional release” to undocumented migrants that Congress leaders introduced in the Build Back Better Act (BBB).

That’s a temporary situation that would protect people from deportation and issue U.S. work permits, but it lacks a path to citizenship – immigration advocates Biden said. ordered do.

Although the provision of parole may change completely, when the legislation reaches the U.S. Senate, advocates say the issue shows how difficult it is to accept the whole. immigration reform in Congress.

“I don’t refuse to include immigration legislation in the reconciliation bill because it’s been more than 30 years since Congress passed immigration reform and people are telling us about it,” Dick Durbin, a Senate majority whip, said in the end. tweet. “With the BBB framework, we have the opportunity to address this leadership gap.”

What is parole?

The conditional release dates back to 1952 and was recently used Bring 65,000 Afghan refugees After the Taliban took over the Afghan capital, Kabul, in the US.

According to the BBB bill proposal, approximately 6.8 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. before 2011 would be eligible for parole. The appointment would provide him with five-year protection, work permits, permission to travel abroad and the ability to obtain a driver’s license.

The process involves submitting an application, paying the fee, and passing the background check. Recipients will be able to renew their status for five years. The program would expire in 2031. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the supply would cost more than $ 100 billion over the next 10 years.

FWD.us, according to an estimate by an immigration advocacy group, said the measure would take about 4.2 million essential workers and two million recipients. IF, a program that protects undocumented immigrants from the United States as children from deportation, “known as.Dreamers“.

“We are fighting for citizenship,” said Murad Awawdeh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition. “The option of the condition is a last-ditch effort … to try to achieve something. But we will fight for lasting protection, not something that will disappear in 10 years, ”Awawdeh told Al Jazeera, adding that parole gives people a temporary“ peace of mind ”.

“We need a lasting solution and I believe that is the difference between parole and citizenship,” he said.

The conditional appointment would provide five years of temporary protection from expulsion from the public, as well as the possibility of obtaining work permits, travel permits and a driver’s license. [Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters]

‘Not good enough’

The plan comes as Biden confronts it mounting pressure To fulfill the campaign promise to renew the U.S. immigration system and reverse some of Donald Trump’s toughest policies. Shortly after taking office in January, Biden a proposal putting undocumented migrants on the path to citizenship for eight years.

About 11 million undocumented immigrants currently live in the U.S., most of them from Mexico with Central American nations. Many have been in the country for years or decades. Immigrant advocates say they are struggling to get a job, health and education without status, and are more easily exploited, among other challenges.

Undocumented immigrants also face a real threat of deportation.

The Trump administration expelled more than 440,000 people in four years, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) statistics, with former President Barack Obama overseeing more than three million deportations over his eight years, an unprecedented figure. He earned the nickname “Deporter in Chief.”

That’s why immigration advocates say parole is short-lived. “It’s not enough,” said Hadi Sedigh, a National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), a policy expert on a group of promoters.

“It’s good enough after all that immigrants need to thrive and participate in society and be members of communities that help them on a daily basis,” Al Jazeera said. “This package clearly does not provide that. It is a situation that is guaranteed to expire in 2031, with no clear next steps for the millions of people who will participate in this status.”

A vote on President Joe Biden’s $ 1.75 trillion ‘Build Back Better Act’ was held this month in the House after an hour’s delay. [File: Al Drago/Reuters]

Democratic pressure

But in the middle record-high numbers Among migrants trying to seek asylum in the U.S. from the southern border of Mexico, Republican lawmakers have spoken out against any status for undocumented migrants, arguing that it would encourage more people to come.

However, on Monday, 91 Democratic members of Congress, including Jesus Garcia, Lou Correa, Adriano Espaillat, Grace Meng and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called on Senate leaders to re-establish their path to citizenship in the spending bill. ,

“The House version of the BBB Act limits relief for some undocumented persons to a five-year conditional condition, another temporary delay,” they wrote in an open letter.

“We are now writing to you and the rest of your Senate colleagues in the version of the Senate Reconciliation Bill to restore the path to citizenship for dreamers, TPS holders, farm workers and essential workers.”

But the BBB bill was passed in the House without a single vote in favor of Republicans, and in a 50-50 Senate split between the two main parties, Democrats would need all members of parliament to approve the bill by a simple majority.

“The provisions of the Build Back Better Act are an essential step in resolving our broken immigration system, but we still have a lot of work to do,” the Democrats wrote in their letter. “We urge the Senate to use its authority to enter a path to citizenship.”