WASHINGTON — A trio of House Democrats on Thursday made a last-minute push to broaden provisions to help undocumented families in the party’s massive social spending and climate change legislation, worried the bill might be the last opportunity to deliver on President Biden’s campaign promises on immigration reform given a deepening partisan divide on the issue.
Currently, the bill would provide temporary protections and work permits to roughly 7 million people living in the United States without authorized status and who entered the country before Jan. 1, 2011. That includes 1.6 million people who arrived as children, a group known as “dreamers,” and 3.6 million day care workers, janitors, and farmworkers doing essential jobs during the pandemic.
The changes were welcomed by some immigrant rights advocates and lawyers who have been pressuring President Biden to stay true to his pledge to significantly expand opportunities for immigrants and refugees in the United States. But they are still less than what the White House has previously proposed, including its initial plan for permanent residency and citizenship for an estimated 11 million undocumented people.
Read here.