President Joe Biden’s administration is joining Democrats on Capitol Hill to unveil a major immigration overhaul that would offer an eight-year pathway to citizenship to the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States.
The controversial legislation, to be released in detail Thursday morning, will reflect the broad priorities for illegal immigration reform that Biden laid out on his first day in office, including an increase in visas, funding to process asylum applications, and new technology at the southern border.
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The plan offers one of the fastest pathways to citizenship of any proposed measure in recent years. It does so without offering any enhanced border security, which past illegal immigration negotiations have used as a way to win Republican votes. Without enhanced security, it faces tough odds in a closely divided Congress.
The bill would immediately provide green cards to farmworkers, those with temporary protected status, and illegal immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children. For other illegals living in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2021, the plan establishes a five-year path to temporary legal status, if they pass background checks, pay taxes, and fulfill other basic requirements. Then, after three years, they can pursue citizenship.
The plan would raise the current per-country caps for family and employment-based immigrant visas. It would eliminate the penalty barring those illegal immigrants who leave the country from returning for three to 10 years. It also would provide money for more judges, support staff, and technology to address the backlog in processing asylum seekers.
Comprehensive illegal immigration reform has struggled to gain traction in Congress for decades.
Menendez was part of the bipartisan Gang of Eight senators who negotiated a 2013 immigration reform bill that ultimately collapsed. Prior to that, a bill backed by President George W. Bush failed in Congress as well, even after multiple attempts at compromise.
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While Biden is pushing a huge bill, he suggested earlier this week he may be open to a more piecemeal approach. During a CNN town hall Tuesday night, Biden said that while a pathway to citizenship would be essential in any immigration bill, “there is things I would deal by itself.” That could leave the door open to standalone bills focused on providing a pathway to citizenship for various populations.
Still, publicly the White House is emphasizing that its goal is a comprehensive plan.
“The president feels that all of these requirements that are in the bill — these components of the bill — are what makes it comprehensive,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said this week. “They all need to be addressed. That’s why he proposed them together.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article