By Natalie Andrews and Louise Radnofsky
WASHINGTON—Democrats on Tuesday introduced a bill providing permanent legal status and a path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who came to the country illegally as children, but the bill is unlikely to move beyond the House of Representatives.
The young immigrants, often described as Dreamers, have widespread, bipartisan support. But other contentious immigration issues have historically undermined any lasting deal on the Dreamers over the past decade, and such fights look set to surface again.
“This piece of legislation has such a troubled history,” said Sarah Pierce, a policy analyst of the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, who was briefed on the legislation.
The Migration Policy Institute said Tuesday the legislation included a path to permanent residence and eventual citizenship for as many as 2.6 million Dreamers, and 429,000 people with Temporary Protected Status or a related program, Deferred Enforced Departure, used by Liberians.
The proposed legislation would grant the Dreamers a conditional permanent resident status for 10 years. They would have to meet requirements including continuous residence in the U.S. for the prior four years and not have a criminal conviction that carries a prison sentence of a year or more.
Should they attend college or serve in the military for two years or be employed for three years, they can then achieve full lawful permanent resident status, the document says. That would ultimately put them on track to apply to become American citizens if they chose or to remain in the U.S. without restriction.
The bill would also permit Dreamers who were removed from the U.S. during the Trump administration to apply to return, according to the document and extend access to in-state tuition rates for college and federal financial aid.
The Migration Policy Institute estimates there are 3.6 million unauthorized immigrants who entered the U.S. before the age of 18. Of those, 1.3 million met all requirements as of 2017 to apply for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. As of Aug. 31, 2018, there were 699,350 participants in DACA.
The bill also includes protections for participants in the Temporary Protected Status program, which acts as a shield against the deportation of immigrants from certain countries, including El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
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The bill is expected to pass the House, where Democrats have made clear they see the passage of such legislation as not just popular, but a priority. But it is less clear whether it will gain Republican backing there, or whether it will be taken up in the GOP-controlled Senate.
Democrats introducing the bill, including longtime advocate Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard of California, described the move as proof of the party establishing its priorities now that it was in control of the House.
“I have seen the pain and fear the Trump administration has had on Dreamers and their families,” she said on Tuesday as she announced the bill. The legislation was introduced with 204 co-sponsors, all Democrats.
Republicans, including Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, said they would likely want to pair the bill with more border-security measures, which this bill doesn’t have.
“If they had put any money toward border security they would probably get a lot of Republicans,” said Rep. Mark Walker (R., N.C.) on Monday.
Some Democrats have argued, too, for a compromise that would be more likely to be enacted quickly.
“We have a president that is going to want something in return for signing something like that. I will pray that I’ve misread him, but what I’ve seen is that he never does anything for free,” said Rep. Lou Correa (D., Calif.).
Supporters of the bill say Democrats are putting down a marker on their principles, and that they stand to gain nothing for Dreamers by negotiating with people who haven’t made a clear commitment to enacting legislation.
For more information, go to: http://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/
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