Pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants is possible.
Here are the five steps on how to win protections for immigrants in reconciliation:
The UndocuBlack Network together with National Immigration Law Center (NILC), Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), released a memo outlining five steps for the congressional Democrats to use in the budget reconciliation process to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
The 19-page memo was published to delineate the set of processes that would ensure the inclusion of pathway to citizenship in the bill. The current House bill, which Democrats are hoping to vote on this week, does not include a pathway to citizenship. Instead, it offers temporary relief in the form of ‘Parole’ offering instead temporary permission to live, work, and travel to and from the United States for immigrants who qualify; leaving many undocumented immigrants in limbo and without any prospect for permanent protection.
The authors of the memo emphasize the need for inclusion of Green Card language (registry) in the House bill before it goes to the Senate while highlighting the need and the urgency for permanent protections through green cards. Registry creates a pathway to citizenship by moving the current Green Card eligibility date forward from 1974 to 2010.
While showcasing the inadequacy of temporary and conditional protections, the memo also sets forth Democrats’ power under existing Senate rules to create a pathway to citizenship through a reconciliation bill. “Democrats have the chance to provide stability for millions of families….They must use the Senate Rules to their full advantage,” reads the memo.
President Biden pledged to provide a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants during his campaign and his administration has an opportunity through reconciliation to fulfill that promise. Immigrant communities mobilized to elect Democrats, handing them control of the Senate, House of Representatives and the White House. But whether or not Democrats will use every tool at their disposal to deliver on their promise of a pathway to citizenship remains to be seen.
In conclusion, whether a pathway to citizenship may be included in a reconciliation bill or not must ultimately be adjudicated by members of the Senate, not the parliamentarian. It is a question of will, empathy and honoring a promise, not Senate procedure.
Read the full memo here and share widely.
UndocuBlack “is a multigenerational network of currently and formerly undocumented Black people that fosters community, facilitates access to resources, and contributes to transforming the realities of our people, so we are thriving and living our fullest lives.”
Follow @UndocuBlack on Twitter.
