WASHINGTON — The House has voted to unlatch a gateway to citizenship for young “Dreamers,” migrant farm workers and immigrants who have fled war or natural disasters, giving Democrats wins in the year’s first votes on an issue that faces an uphill climb in the Senate.
On a near party-line 228-197 vote Thursday, lawmakers approved one bill offering legal status to around 2 million “Dreamers,” brought to the U.S. illegally as children, and hundreds of thousands of migrants admitted for humanitarian reasons from a dozen troubled countries. Roll Call Vote included 9 Republicans voting yea.
They then voted 247-174 for a second measure creating similar protections for 1 million farm workers who have worked in the U.S. illegally. The government estimates they comprise half the nation’s agricultural labourers. Roll Call Vote included 30 Republicans voting yea.
In a statement after the votes, President Joe Biden called the action a “critical first step” toward a more sweeping overhaul he’s proposed. He said he wants to work with Congress toward “building a 21st century immigration system that is grounded in dignity, safety, and fairness, and finally enacts the long term solutions we need to create an orderly and humane immigration system.”
Both bills largely hit a wall of opposition from Republicans insistent that any immigration legislation bolster security at the Mexican border, which waves of migrants have tried breaching in recent weeks. The GOP has accused congressional Democrats of ignoring that problem and Biden of fueling it by erasing former President Donald Trump’s restrictive policies, even though that surge began while Trump was still in office.
While “Dreamers” win wide public support and migrant farm workers are a backbone of the agriculture industry, both House bills face gloomy prospects in the evenly split Senate. That chamber’s 50 Democrats will need at least 10 GOP supporters to break Republican filibusters.
The outlook was even grimmer for Biden’s more ambitious goal of legislation making citizenship possible for all 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally, easing visa restrictions, improving border security technology and spending billions in Central America to ease problems that prompt people to leave.
Nine House Republicans joined all Democrats in voting for the “Dreamers” measure, but 30 GOP lawmakers backed the farm workers bill, giving it a more bipartisan hue.
Congress has long deadlocked over immigration, which again seems headed toward becoming political ammunition. Republicans could use it to rally conservative voters in upcoming elections, while Democrats could add it to a stack of House-passed measures languishing in the Senate to build support for abolishing that chamber’s bill-killing filibusters.
Democrats said their measures were aimed not at border security but at immigrants who deserve help.
“They’re so much of our country,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said of “Dreamers,” who like many immigrants have held front-line jobs during the pandemic. “These immigrant communities strengthen, enrich and ennoble our nation, and they must be allowed to stay.”
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Neither House measure would directly affect those trying to enter from Mexico. Republicans criticized them anyway for lacking border security provisions and used the debate to lambaste Biden, who’s ridden a wave of popularity since taking office and winning a massive COVID-19 relief package.
“It is a Biden border crisis, and it is spinning out of control,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
While the number of migrants caught trying to cross the border from Mexico has been rising since last April, the 100,441 encountered last month was the highest figure since March 2019. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has said the number is tracking toward a 20-year high.
In another measure of the problem, around 14,000 children and teens are in Customs and Border Protection custody or Health and Human Services Department shelters while officials find relatives or sponsors to take them, Biden administration officials told reporters.
Democrats were making that problem worse, Republicans said, with bills they said entice more immigrants to sneak into the U.S. and provide amnesty to immigrants who break laws to get here.
“We don’t know who these people are. We don’t know what their intentions are,” Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., said of immigrant farm workers who might seek legal status. He added, “It’s frightening, it’s irresponsible, it’s endangering American lives.”
During earlier debate on the “Dreamers” bill, Democrats said Republicans were going too far.
“Sometimes I stand in this chamber, and I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone, listening to a number of my Republican colleagues espouse white supremacist ideology to denigrate our ‘Dreamers,’” said Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y.
Maine Rep. Jared Golden’s vote against the farm workers measure made him the only Democrat to oppose either bill.
The House approved “Dreamer” and farm worker bills in 2019 by similar partisan margins, and both died in what was a Republican-run Senate. Trump, who as president constricted legal and illegal immigration, would have signed neither.
Biden has suspended work on Trump’s wall along the Mexican border, ended his separation of young children from migrant families and allowed apprehended minors to stay in the U.S. as officials decide if they can legally remain. He has also turned away most single adults and families.
The “Dreamers” bill would grant conditional legal status for 10 years to many immigrants up to age 18 who were brought into the U.S. illegally before this year. They’d have to meet education and other requirements. “Dreamers” get their name from never-passed proposals in Congress called the DREAM Act.
To attain legal permanent residence, or a green card, they’d have to obtain a higher education degree, serve in the military or be employed for at least three years. Like others with green cards, they could then apply for citizenship after five years.
The measure would also grant green cards to an estimated 400,000 immigrants with temporary protected status or deferred enforced departure status, which temporarily allow people fleeing extraordinary problems into the U.S.
The other bill would let immigrant farm workers who’ve worked in the country illegally over the past two years get certified agriculture worker status. That would let them, their spouses and children remain in the U.S. for renewable 5 1/2-year periods.
To earn green cards, they’d have to pay a $1,000 fine and work up to an additional eight years, depending on how long they’ve already held farm jobs.
The legislation would cap wage increases, streamline the H-2A visa process for legal immigrant farm workers and phase in a mandatory system for electronically verifying the legal status of agriculture labourers.
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Associated Press writer Ben Fox contributed to this report.
© 2021 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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The biggest dreamers in America are dem politicians who dream of the day they have destroyed our constitution and their regime is up and running 100%.
The “Socialist Democrat Party State”. 👿
The soon to be vice president Nazi Nancy Pelosi has stated her objectives.
The “Socialist Democrat Party State”political officers and Gestapo are just getting started.
You will obey, be loyal and support the “Socialist Democrat Party State” or you will be classified as
“Enemies of the State”. 👿
THEIR dream, OUR nightmare!
This is an existential threat to America, we will lose our country if the Senate doers not shut this down.
Why is Congress not reacting to not acting on this?
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
U.S. Constitution: Article 4, Section 4: The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature , or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.
Is this not an illegal foreign immigrant invasion??
The ******** in the media need to quit telling us and pretending our so called representatives are loyal to the Constitution and too this once great country. There is no such thing as a moderate Democrat. They are all far out leftist ghouls and Communists at best and ruthless tyrants at their worst. They should all be arrested and in prison. There is no such thing as moderately supporting and defending the Constitution. These low-life ******** are traitors one and all.
IF YOu want more illegal acts, REWARD IT..
“building a 21st century immigration system that is grounded in dignity, safety, and fairness, and finally enacts the long term solutions we need to create an orderly and humane immigration system.” Yep, dignity and fairness for the American people, as the taxpayer is paying welfare for the illegals, drug dealers are coming into our Country with drugs, gangs are coming into our Country and the “fairness”, will be giving the illegal aliens the right to vote and with the “fairness” there is fraud in our elections, so there will be one party Democrat communist rule. Oh, Joe Criminal, I love your “fairness” for the American people!!!!!
“WE need to be fair, humane and safe”.
BUT ONLY to the illegal ivaders.
SCREW AMERICANS.
Sloppy Joe’s haphazard lawless immigration chaos system. A system that has super spreaders death and disease caravans that are Grounded in fraud, deceit, drug-smuggling. child trafficking, white slavery, heat stroke, asphyxiation and criminal Cartels. Isn’t America great? Before long America will be just as bad or worse than the countries they left. For decades our major metropolitan areas are already out of control Hell holes run by Career Democrats politicians that don’t care. And some how they keep getting reelected. How strange. I’d say our voting systems are already broken with perpetual fraud and corruption.
WELL< they did say they wish to Fundamentally alter america!
Blah, blah, blah! Of course the House passed it, anyone who thought otherwise isn’t too bright!
What I really wanted to learn is, WHAT ELSE IS IN THIS PACKAGE? Dem pass NOTHING unless it has hidden a trillion dollars of spending. Oh, this was written by AP! Can’t expect AP to print the WHOLE truth, can we?
The AP (Associated Press) is group think, commie propaganda dressed up “news”. What this tells you is; not one Democrat in the House of Representatives has a will or mind of their own even when “representing” a predominantly “moderate” state. They are all lock-step fanatics at the beckon call of Pelosi and AOC. They always say they represent their state but they don’t. They are 100% owned and controlled by the Democrat machine PERIOD.
Illegal immigration is to Democrat run America what heroine is to an addict. First it feels good, but once inside the bloodstream or the country all hell breaks loose and the short-term pleasure never overweighs the long-term ultimate pain of the problems and debilitation that follow. All eventually come to agree that it would have been better to never have allowed it into the blood stream in the first place, except in small doses and for medical reasons only for the alleviation of the pain of a short-term need or problem. In both cases you often end up with victims living homeless, under bridges, or eating out of dumpsters, until the sob sister Democrats step in to allow in more social palliatives to numb, not cure the pain of their proffered addictions and the circle of destruction just continues. Democrats are to America what drug dealers are to the addicts.
I guess all the hard work and money for my wife to become a citizen was for naught. I want to be reimbursed for all monetary expenditures and I want interest as well as a fee for having to deal with all of this.
OR
You can send people home and tell them to do it legally and make money out of it instead of giving our tax dollars away.
That’s my biggest gripe about all these illegal aliens invading the country. They literally shove aside the honest petitioners such as your wife to enter the country legally, who jump through all the hoops, pay all the fees, need to prove their worth, need sponsors, and then wait for who knows how long. That is truly a Crime!!!
I do hope there is some way for all of those such as your wife to be recognized in every way possible. This is a disgrace and an insult to all of you who respected our immigration laws.
SO true. I knew quite a few folks, while in, who fought tooth and claw, to LEGALLY get their wive’s family stateside, and make them citizens.
Seems like they should have said “SCREW IT, lets just bring them illegally in, and wait for the NEXT ROUND OF DEMONRAT led amnesty bills to pass”..
This is living proof that crime does pay. That’s how Politicians especially Democrats make a living. They steal it. Because when it comes to the Democrat Party that’s all they ever have to offer. After all its not their money. They just steal it from the treasury. They’ve done it for hundreds of years and they will keep on doing it. When the press will lie and cover for them, there is no down side for them. If we’re lucky we get get back $.10 of every dollar they print or confiscate in taxes. That’s about 90% profit for them. And they they say we are part of the “Free World”. Sucker.
IT only pays if you are a demon-rat, an illegal invader, or one of the ‘special protected groups’..
I see a Revolution coming ! 1776 of 2021 more people are buying guns than ever before and Ammunition is hard to find !
One thing that is true, in EVERY big city run by democrats–aside from the high crime, high unemployment, poverty, urban decay, ignorance and government dependency, the minorities who were controlled and manipulated and played by wealthy white democrats are now empowered and in charge over their former white masters. And the result is blatant. Advanced high crime, high unemployment, poverty, urban decay, ignorance and government dependency. Now a new crop of “voters” to control and manipulate is needed. Be careful what you wish for Nancy. The speaker of the house will soon be the habla of the casa.
Though true, it is also ironiclly true, that generally MOST OF THOSE cities, are also THE HIGHEST PRICE TO LIVE in cities…
the House will pass anything, hopefully it will go no where in the Senate
More give-aways while the citizens who will end up paying are already suffering and being burdened with more onorous rules and regulations by those seeking not only to rebuild the government but the entire society of the country! Adding insult to injury was the miniscule percentage of a relief bill that did more to relieve the incompetence of poorly managed government the the actual hurt of the general population.
The seated politicians have lied to America about their loyalty to our constitution therefore America will take back what was stolen and the reapers of this fraud will suffer.
MOST of these communists, have been lying about their oaths to uphold our constitution, SINCE DAY ONE of their term…
The House can pass as many bills that it wants, hopefully the Senate will stop them from becoming law
WITH all the RINOS over there, don’t bet on them stopping jack.
ABC news said 4.3million illegals rewarded by this bill. You say 2 million ! Either way that’s a lot and how many more illegals next time ?? 10 or 20 million ??? They refuse to learn our language. So when will California make Spanish it’s official language ???
IMO it already is!
I don’t have a passport so I can’t leave the country,not even Mexico or Canada. Why do illegal emigrants get to come here then ?!!!! Something terribly wrong here.
WORSE< get PREFERENTIAL treament, over AMERICAN citizens, many of which have BLED for this nation.
I dream of seeing the Southwest returned to Mexico, where National Pride and Respect For The Flag can once again become commonplace. This Sodom & Gomorrah USofAnarchy is doomed.