Pro-immigrant groups refuse to accept immigration reform setback

When President Biden took office 11 months ago, one of his first official acts on Jan. 20 was to send an immigration bill – the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 that included an 8-year path to citizenship for the country’s estimated 11 million undocumented residents – to Congress.

Thursday, Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough dashed the hopes of Dreamers and other undocumented immigrants by ruling that the reform language did not qualify for the Build Back Better legislation that Democrats are trying to push through a divided Senate.

“We strongly disagree with the Senate parliamentarian’s interpretation of our immigration proposal, and we will pursue every means to achieve a path to citizenship in the Build Back Better Act,” said Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, in a Thursday joint statement with five Democratic colleagues.

“Throughout the entire reconciliation process, we have worked to ensure that immigration reform was not treated as an afterthought,” the statement said. “The majority of Americans support our efforts to provide legal status for millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States because it would raise wages, create good-paying jobs, enrich our economy, and improve the lives of all Americans.”

Sens. Chuck Schumer (New York), Dick Durbin (Illinois), Bob Menéndez (New Jersey), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada), and Ben Ray Luján (New México) – all Democrats – joined Padilla in issuing the statement.

“The American people understand that fixing our broken immigration system is a moral and economic imperative, and we stand with the millions of immigrant families across the country who deserve better and for whom we will not stop fighting.,” the senators said.”

Short of firing, or ignoring, the parliamentarian, there is little maneuvering room for Biden and the Democrats. The Build Back Better plan will not meet Biden’s 2021 deadline as the president continues to have talks with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, to support the bill.

The Senate parliamentarian has blocked the Democrats’ immigration reform plans to include them in the reconciliation bill twice this year.

“Immigrants were essential to our country long before the COVID-19 pandemic and they are essential to every aspect of our recovery today,” Padilla said Friday in a CNN interview.

Pro-immigrant groups signal resolve

Reaction from immigration reform supporters was quick.

Héctor Sánchez Barba, executive director/CEO of Mi Familia Vota, said the parliamentarian does not have “the final word on citizenship, or immigration legislation coming from Congress.”

He noted that Mi Familia Vota has helped elect pro-immigrant officials. “Now is the time for those elected officials to fight and show that they stand in solidarity with immigrants,” he said.

“As immigrants have done so much to help our country historically and specifically during this pandemic, providing food, medical attention, risking their lives to keep our country fed and safe,” said Sánchez Barba. “This is not a question of policy but a question of fairness.”

“The power to Build Back Better and build back justly doesn’t reside in the hands of one senate staffer, it resides in us - working people and our allies who refuse to let this unjust decision stand,” said David Huerta, president of SEIU-United Service Workers West in a press release.

“Building Back Better is only possible when immigrant families have a pathway to legalization and citizenship and when every worker has the opportunity to belong to a union,” said Huerta.

“As a DACA recipient with an undocumented mother, today’s news is an unwelcome development, and represents yet another barrier for Congress providing relief to the nation’s undocumented population,” said José Magaña-Salgado, director of policy and communicatiosn for the Presidents Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.

“While the previously passed infrastructure bill was a positive step to improving our nation, the social impact of the Build Back Better Act is an essential element of the comprehensive changes needed in the U.S. to create a more equitable and just society,” said Yadira Sánchez, co-executive director of Poder Latinx.

“We demand and expect that the Senate does what is the right thing to do – providing immigration relief, inserting permanent residency back into the bill, and fulfilling their promise of citizenship to millions of hard-working immigrant families.”

Frankie Miranda, president/CEO of Hispanic Federation, said he was “deeply disappointed” by the parliamentarian’s decision, but added that a majority of Americans support immigration provisions in the bill, including 93% of Democrats, 81% of independents and 65% of Republicans.

“Decisions by non-elected officials should not dictate the behavior of our elected representatives or determine the future of hundreds of thousands of hardworking immigrants who worked through the pandemic and who continue to contribute to the recovery of the nation,” said Miranda.

“The parliamentarian’s rejection of these minor changes in immigration law represent bitter news just before end-of-year festivities,” said Óscar Chacón, executive director of Alianza Americas, a network of more than 50 migrant-led groups.

“Latino immigrant communities are not just disappointed and angry with the parliamentarian. We are also disappointed with the Democratic party leadership in the Senate, which essentially made promises they were not capable of keeping.”