Build Back Better Act includes vital immigration reform
U.S. House Democrats passed the Build Back Better Act on Nov. 15. If passed by Congress, it would include the largest immigration reform package seen by Congress in 35 years.
Currently, the bill will have climate change measures like allocating $2 trillion toward staffing and development of a Civilian Climate Corps to manage the National Forest System land. It will also include social spending like construction of senior centers and universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds.
Initially, House Democrats wanted to include a pathway to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants as well, as President Joe Biden tried in January 2021. A surge in border crossings, however, made it difficult to convince Republicans to support his promise.
Democrats turned to reconciliation in an attempt to pass that provision, but also struggled, and were forced to forgo the citizenship point. Instead, the Build Back Better Act currently includes Title VI, which could provide parole status to about 6.8 million undocumented immigrants out of the current 11 million.
That means that for those living in the United States before 2011, the parole status would “give them protection from deportation for a period of five years, work permits, permission to travel abroad and the ability to get drivers’ licenses,” according to Al Jazeera.
The parole status was also recently granted to 65,000 Afghani citizens fleeing from the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August. Approximately 65% of the country would be protected from deportations for the next ten years if the bill becomes law.
Still, the parole status would not automatically be applied to undocumented immigrants meeting the mentioned criteria. Applicants would need to file paperwork, pay a processing fee and supplemental fee of $1,500, submit to a background check, and complete a medical evaluation, according to page 900 of the official act. The last day to apply is Dec. 31, 2031, when the program is set to expire.
Title VI would cost approximately $100 billion over the next decade. In conjunction with the rest of the Build Back Better Act provisions, the final total could total to $1.85 trillion if passed by the Senate.
Immigration advocates also feel the current immigration provision of the bill is a good start, but a fleeting fix.
It would also restore more than 400,000 green cards left unused because of the backlog in immigration during the pandemic.
House Democrats, however, are still trying to include a path to citizenship and not temporary protection. On Nov. 22, 91 penned a letter asking the Senate to reinstate the path to citizenship.
“Passing the Build Back Better Act was an historic and monumental achievement that stands to help so many working families in New York and across the country,” said Congressmember Grace Meng in the letter.
“But we cannot forget our ongoing fight for the millions of immigrants who are waiting for a pathway to citizenship, and I urge the Senate to reinstate this crucial provision as the chamber works on its version of the legislation,” she added.
Immigration advocates also feel the current immigration provision of the bill is a good start, but a fleeting fix.
“This is far from the relief that our immigrant communities deserve, it’s not what they promised us but we know it will be life-changing. The fight is not over. (Democrats) can still deliver on their promise of a pathway to citizenship,” said Juliana Macedo do Nascimento, senior advocacy manager of United We Dream, an immigration reform organization.
While immigration organizations are pressuring Democrats to restore the original citizenship provision, it is not their decision to make. Senate Democrats would be tasked to retain it, but that is only if the Senate parliamentarians do not strike down the provision, as they have done twice before.
The first immigration proposal offered a path to legal permanent residency, but the parliamentarian rejected it, saying it did not have a budgetary effect and thus could not be in a reconciliation bill.
Democrats’ second attempt, a plan to provide green cards for some undocumented immigrants was also rejected.
As for the latest version of Title VI, both Democrats and Republicans will make their arguments to the parliamentarian after Thanksgiving recess, and the latter will determine whether provision will have a budgetary effect.
If the latest provision is approved and passed by the Senate, it would have historic ramifications.
Undocumented immigrants could visit their native countries for the first time in many years. They could also obtain licenses in states that forbid undocumented immigrants from doing so, like Texas, which has more than more than 1.9 million undocumented immigrants as of 2018.
Considering a federal judge in Texas ruled in July to stop accepting DACA applications in the state, Title VI would also provide protection to DACA recipients across the country.
“In fact, more than 18 million people, or about 1 in 20 U.S. residents, live in households with at least one individual who would be impacted by immigration provisions in the Build Back Better Act,” according to FWD.us, a bipartisan political organization.
The organization Data for Progress also found that Americans across the country are supportive of the parole provision.
“We find that a strong majority, 75%, of likely voters support this proposal, with enthusiastic support from Democrats and Independents. 88% of Democrats and 81%of Independents support providing immigration relief to Dreamers and undocumented immigrants,” according to its website.
Passing the current version of the Build Back Better plan, at least in terms of immigration, would then reflect public sentiment. But immigrants and advocates urge Democrats to continue their fight for an included path to citizenship.
“The threat of deportation is always there. A pathway to citizenship is a pathway to stability,” Murad Awawdeh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, said.
