One California Republican voted to give ‘dreamers’ a path to citizenship. Here’s why
One California Republican voted on Thursday to advance a bill that grants a path to citizenship for young immigrants, bucking his party leadership on a proposal favored by Democrats.
Reps. David Valadao, R-Hanford, voted to approve the Dream and Promise Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children, known as Dreamers. It also grants a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country with temporary protected status or other protections.
The Democratic House passed the same bill in the last session, but it died when the Republican-controlled Senate declined to take it up. Democrats now control the Senate, but narrowly. They would need at least 10 Republican senators to break a potential filibuster and vote for the bill in order for it to become law.
Valadao said he voted for the bill to help his constituents in the San Joaquin Valley.
“I am proud to protect our Dreamers. My Congressional District is home to more than 7,000 DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients,” Valadao said in a statement to McClatchy. “These young people go to work, attend school, pay taxes, and are actively involved in our communities. We must ensure that people who were brought here as children through no fault their own, and call the United States home, are welcome here.”
House Republican leadership advised members to vote against the bill and only nine GOP members supported.
The Migration Policy Institute estimates the bill, if it becomes law, could affect 4.4 million immigrants in the country.
Other battleground district California Republicans, such as Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, voted against the bill. Garcia said while he “sympathized” with dreamers, Congress should focus instead on comprehensive immigration reform.
“Providing amnesty to dreamers while ignoring the crisis at the border is like cleaning up spilled water before fixing the broken pipe, Garcia said in a floor speech Thursday. “If Congress fails to reform our immigration system and fails to secure our borders, future migrants will be subjected to the same situation in which dreamers today find themselves.”
Though Republicans have repeatedly called for more comprehensive immigration reform in order to grant a path to citizenship for dreamers, those efforts have repeatedly failed.
The most recent Republican effort at comprehensive immigration reform, which was partially led by Rep. Valadao in 2017 tanked after months of GOP negotiations, with all Democrats and many Republicans voting against it on the House floor.
Democrats so far seem to favor the piecemeal approach, bringing up both the Dream and Promise Act and also the Farm Workforce Modernization Act on Thursday. That bill provides a pathway to legal status and permanent residency for migrant farmworkers.
It also reforms visa requirements for migrant farmworkers, allowing them to work year-round instead of them having to leave the U.S. and come back in certain seasons. Dairies had particularly pushed for that reform, pointing out cows don’t have a plant and harvest season — they produce milk year-round.
Valadao, whose family owns a dairy, was a co-sponsor of that bill.
“Our farm workers are absolutely critical to our collective mission of reliably feeding America, yet many live in fear due to an inability to gain legal status through our broken immigration system,” Valadao said. “Ensuring that our essential farm workers already in the states receive legal status, while also simplifying and streamlining the process for future flow of workers, is just common sense, and I am proud to be an original cosponsor on this very important legislation.”
While the piecemeal approach might do more to help the legislation pass the House, not having a comprehensive immigration package might mean no action in the Senate.
This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 4:01 PM with the headline "One California Republican voted to give ‘dreamers’ a path to citizenship. Here’s why."
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