Biden Administration’s Immigration Legislation: Likely Dead on Arrival
It's time for Republicans (and a few Democrats) to crank up the racism another notch. The White House is getting ready for a big push on a legislative proposal overhauling the nation’s immigration laws.
Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Representative Linda T. Sánchez of California will be taking the lead on this legislation, the granular details of which will be announced shortly.
You can just about hear the various excuses getting dusted off in political powder rooms around the nation's Capitol. Of course we're for immigration reform...it's just that there is a (imagined) typo on page three of the bill and we need to create a pathway to Guantanamo for brown drug dealers...
From CNN:
Biden's bill, titled U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, addresses the millions of undocumented immigrants living in the US, boosts border technology, and targets the root causes of migration, according to a White House fact sheet.
Notably, the bill provides an immediate pathway to citizenship for farmworkers, DACA recipients, and Temporary Protected Status holders. It also sketches out a plan for undocumented immigrants that would allow them to eventually apply for green cards if they pass background checks and pay taxes.
The legislation signals the Biden administration's approach to immigration -- one largely centered on looking at immigration holistically and not only focused on the US-Mexico border. The bill, for example, will include $4 billion in funding to increase assistance to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras and set up safe and legal channels for migrants to seek protection.
Comprehensive legislation failed in 2001, 2006, 2007 and 2013. What they all had in common was a promise for better border security and immigration law enforcement in exchange for a path to citizenship for undocumented people.
President Obama’s 2013 effort passed the Senate with a bipartisan super majority. The Republican-controlled House refused to even consider the legislation.
This time around, it’s possible (but not likely, according to advocates with America’s Voice) that the Nancy Pelosi-led House of Representatives will pass some version of the Biden plan. The need for a 60 vote majority to pass non-budgetary bills in the Senate makes it a non-starter. (All bets are off should the Democrats find a way to eliminate the filibuster.)
And then there are the pigs at the trough...
https://twitter.com/ConMijente/status/1362142294112038912?s=20
Given that only seven Republicans were willing to cross over to vote for impeachment, the path to passage is a steep one. With four years of bellicose bs from the racist right about immigrants and a renewed misinformation campaign (MS-13’s coming for your grandma), I just don’t see it happening, even if a majority of Americans favor immigration reform.
The Biden administration is cognizant of these challenges, and has reached out to pro-immigrant groups to make them aware that a piecemeal approach may be necessary.
From the New York Times:
While the activists are willing to let Mr. Biden try for a bipartisan deal this year, they have warned that they will not wait forever.
“We want 11 million people legalized. That is our North Star,” said Frank Sharry, the executive director of America’s Voice and a veteran of immigration wars in the nation’s capital for more than 30 years. “But we can’t come home empty-handed. We’re not going to adopt an all or nothing approach. We have to achieve a breakthrough.”
For those like Mr. Sharry, that is a major shift, and it could herald fierce debates over whether Democrats should use parliamentary tactics in the Senate to ram through individual immigration measures without any Republican support.
The activists are mobilizing on behalf of separate bills that would legalize Dreamers; farm workers; immigrants granted temporary status after fleeing war and natural disasters; and undocumented “essential workers” who have fought on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1361872957841244160?s=20
There is a formidable collection of anti-immigrant organizations who will stoke the fires of xenophobia and racism in response to any attempt at reforms.
Many of them are suit and tie groups who mask their pasts going back to the eugenics movements of the early 20th century. The barbarian MAGA types who harass immigrant assistance groups are just frosting on the cake.
Unfortunately, too many media organizations are willing to repeat the talking points put forward by these types without noting their frequent designation as hate groups by researchers.
In an attempt to modernize their approaches, some anti-immigration organizations have taken to providing greenwashed justifications for their views, as in blaming migrants for climate change.
The reality, of course, is that changing weather patterns are a factor in driving immigration. Actually doing something about carbon emissions might even reduce the motivation to migrate.
Anti-immigrant groups include: Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), Progressives for Immigration Reform (PFIR), NumbersUSA, and The Rewilding Institute.
Remember these names in case you see them quoted via the news media's quest to both-sides everything.
Funding comes from:
Pittsburgh’s Colcom Foundation, founded by Mellon Bank heiress Cordelia Scaife May, who believed that her life’s purpose was curbing the threat of overpopulation by limiting immigration to the United States.
The Weeden Foundation. Led by Don Weeden, the foundation has provided funding to CAPS, the Rewilding Institute, NumbersUSA, PFIR, FAIR, and CIS.
Foundation for the Carolinas, which includes a donor advised fund providing nearly $21 million to at least nine anti-immigrant organizations in recent years.
Meanwhile, the clock is ticking for DACA recipients. A Texas judge’s upcoming ruling could kill remnants of the program.
President Biden has already signed numerous executive actions reforming targeting immigration and rolling back policies from the Trump administration.
So activists of all stripes need to get ready to do the work needed to get something, anything, across the finish line in Congress. This isn't going to be easy and it won't be quick, but it is as necessary as any other part of a progressive agenda.
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1361827703352037380?s=20
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Lead image by Araceli Arroyo / Flickr