House Democrats are pressing ahead with slivers of their immigration agenda while they scramble to build support for a much broader comprehensive package.

View Comments (0)

An immigration overhaul stands among the top priorities of President Biden, and Democrats in both chambers introduced the U.S. Citizen Act last month reflecting the administration’s goals.

But disagreements between liberal and moderate Democrats have complicated the strategy for bringing that legislation to the floor, highlighting both the explosive nature of immigration politics in Washington and the struggles facing congressional Democrats as they charge ahead with an ambitious legislative slate with a razor-thin majority. . . .

Sponsored by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Biden’s immigration plan constitutes a sweeping overhaul of an immigration system that all sides of the debate agree is broken.

Central to the proposal is a provision that would create a pathway to citizenship for roughly 11 million people living in the country illegally. It also aims to modernize border technologies, eliminate visa backlogs and per-country visa caps, boost immigrant worker protections and increase financial assistance to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras in hopes of discouraging migration from those troubled Central American nations — a topic of heightened urgency given the current migrant surge at the southern border.

Yet some liberals are voicing early concerns that certain eligibility safeguards have been written so broadly that they would deny legalization benefits to some immigrants who should be eligible to get them. . . .

Amid the search for a balance that can win support from both camps, Sanchez has tapped a team of “closers” — seven congresswomen leading the blitz to secure votes — and Biden’s immigration advisers are also busy conducting outreach and rallying support.

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is characterizing Biden’s immigration package as “important and serious.” He’s intending to mark up the legislation next month. . . .

That effort is sure to feature scores of proposed amendments from lawmakers of all stripes, including liberal and moderate Democrats vying to put their mark on the bill.

“My sense is that the details of the larger immigration bill are far from determined, especially within the ideological bounds of the Democratic Caucus,” said one House Democrat. “What Pramila and Alex might want are very different from what Abigail and Elissa could live with.” . . .

The strategy of voting on piecemeal bills carries several advantages, Democrats argue. For one thing, it allows them to take advantage of a special fast-track rule. Under the “McGovern Rule” — named for House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) — Democrats have until the end of March to bypass committee hearings and markups and bring the pair of immigration bills directly to the House floor, given that the bills already passed in the last Congress. . . .

Second, it allows Democrats to demonstrate they are making progress on their immigration agenda — “and then use that momentum to pass the bigger bill,” said a second Democratic aide familiar with the debate.

Some immigration reformers also view this week’s votes as a litmus test for what is possible in a hyper-partisan Congress where the Democrats enjoy only the slightest majority in each chamber. . . .

Yet there’s also a simpler explanation for moving the smaller bills first: They have the votes to pass, while Biden’s, at the moment, does not. . . .

Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), who represents a border district that includes El Paso, said she hopes the comprehensive bill can pass on the House floor by April or May. But she warned that a GOP filibuster in the Senate — an “instrument of gridlock” she called it — will pose a “huge problem” for the Biden package. . . .

“We cannot continue punting on this, because we’re going to be having this conversation year after year after year … if we continue to kick the can,” she added. “And that’s not what the American people want.”

Share your thoughts on this article in the comments below. . .

(Excerpt from The Hill. Article by  MIKE LILLIS AND SCOTT WONG . Photo Credit: Getty Images.)