Immigration reform has been at the forefront of U.S. President Joe Biden’s plans for change, and according to U.S. Senator, Robert Menendez, Democrats plan on passing their new immigration bill even in the face of opposition from the Republican party. The aim is to rely on a special parliamentary procedure known as reconciliation. This enables the bill to be passed by a simple majority rather than by receiving the 60 votes normally required. Menendez told the press that Biden should forge ahead, giving necessary priority to immigration reform. However, White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, stated that Biden was still making attempts to receive support from both parties.
What Reformation Does Biden Propose?
Around 11 million unauthorized immigrants (including farm employees, people who arrived in the U.S. as children, and those with temporary protected status owing to the political situation in their countries) stand to gain from the reform. The bill seeks to provide set paths to citizenship for these and other affected groups. It also aims to introduce new technology to control border entries and to send billions of dollars to Central America so as to reduce the need for immigration. Menendez has stated that thus far, Republicans are opposed to extensive immigration reform, preferring instead to focus on farm workers and those who were brought to the U.S. as children (the so-called ‘dreamers’). As stated by specialist immigration lawyer, Kyle Farmer, legal immigration and foreign recruitment can enable businesses to achieve important goals. This is why creating a pathway towards legality and finding ways out of labor bottlenecks is so important for immigrants and for the U.S. economy.
Emphasizing The Value Of Immigrants
Menendez recently told the press that the reason that immigration reform has been stalling for so many years is because parties have made too many compromises and buckled down too quickly to people “who have refused to accept the humanity and contributions of immigrants to our country.” Biden, meanwhile, has said that if there were a problem passing the bill as a whole, he would continue to work on reform in a piecemeal fashion. Previous Presidents such as Obama and George W. Bush had attempted to increase pathways to citizenship, only to have their bills rejected by Congress. Democrat and Representative Linda Sanchez has expressed her optimism about future change: “I think we’re building momentum to what needs to happen, which is, complete overhaul of the system. I think they’re building blocks to the next bill.”
Senator Robert Menendez hopes to pass Biden’s new immigration bill fully through the process of reconciliation. This would enable the Democrats to pass over the normal 60-vote requirement. The bill hopes to aid more than farm workers and dreamers, whose rights were significantly removed in March this year, when the House of Representatives passed two bills on immigration reform that would provide them with a path to citizenship.