Immigration bills near law
WASHINGTON
— Democratic bills opening a gateway to citizenship for over 3 million young “Dreamers” and farm worker immigrants headed toward House passage Thursday, but Republican opposition means any legislation on the issue faces a steep climb before it can reach President Joe Biden’s desk.
The bills represent Democrats’ initial steps this year toward Biden’s goal of sweeping legislation making citizenship possible for all 11 million immigrants estimated to be in the US illegally. But they ran into a wall of opposition by Republicans, who have been singularly focused on a rising wave of migrants trying to cross the border from Mexico, a surge they’ve blamed on Biden.
GOP resistance signaled that the issue, which has stymied major progress in Congress for years, has bleak prospects this year as well, especially in the evenly divided Senate. That means immigration could well become a battlefield in next year’s elections, when Republicans hope to regain House and Senate control.
“Unfortunately, what we are hearing is as much fearmongering as possible by our Republican colleagues about immigrants,” said Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas.
One measure would help roughly 2 million “Dreamers” — immigrants brought to the US illegally as children — and migrants who have fled armed conflicts or natural disasters from a dozen countries stay in the US and give them a chance for citizenship. The other would do the same for around 1 million farm workers in the US illegally, a group that represents about half the country’s agricultural laborers.