House to Take Up Immigration This Week
WASHINGTON – The House is poised to vote on two immigration bills this week, as debate continues over how to address the surging numbers of migrant children and families being detained at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The first bill, the Dream and Promise Act, would provide a path to citizenship for Dreamers, young immigrants who were brought to the country as children and have remained in the country illegally. This bill also provides a path to citizenship for the immigrants living in the U.S. with Temporary Protected Status. Seven House Republicans supported this legislation last time around.
The second bill, the Farm Modernization Workforce Act, aims to provide a path to citizenship for farm workers who are living in the country illegally. Thirty-four Republicans supported this legislation last Congress.
Both bills passed the House last session but were never taken up in the Senate. It is unlikely either will receive the 60 votes needed to pass in the Senate this time around, which means the reconciliation process will once again come into play.
Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is taking a delegation of a dozen GOP members to El Paso, Texas, today as part of an effort to highlight what they say is a crisis at the border that the Biden administration has failed to adequately address.
The Biden administration said about 4,000 migrant youths were being held at Customs and Border Protection facilities last week after more than 9,400 were detained without a parent in February – up from more than 5,800 in January.
That prompted the Department of Homeland Security to direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help facilitate shelter, nutrition and basic medical care for the surge of migrant children that have been arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Immigration
ELOY, Ariz. — Detainees at an immigrant detention center in Arizona are alleging they experienced mistreatment, slurs and abuse by the staff after a Department of Homeland Security audit of the facility. Immigrants held at the La Palma Correctional Center told DHS Office of Inspector General... Read More
WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden is putting Vice President Kamala Harris in charge of leading the White House effort to get a handle on the surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Biden made the announcement as he and Harris met at the White House on... Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is scrambling to manage a growing humanitarian and political challenge at the U.S.-Mexico border that threatens to overshadow its ambitious legislative agenda. With the number of migrants surging, administration officials say Biden inherited an untenable situation that resulted from what... Read More
WASHINGTON — The House voted Thursday to open a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, migrant farm workers and other immigrants who've fled war or natural disasters in their home countries. On a near party-line 228-197 vote, lawmakers approved one bill offering legal status to around 2... Read More
WASHINGTON — Democrats are poised to capitalize on their legislative momentum by passing a pair of immigration bills that would grant legal status to millions of immigrants if enacted. Conversely, congressional Republicans are capitalizing on the surge of migrant border crossings to fuel their own momentum... Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats seem poised to claim victory in the House's first votes this year on immigration, but moving legislation on the divisive issue all the way through Congress to President Joe Biden is an uphill fight. The House was set to vote Thursday on... Read More
