Friday, September 20

Kamala Harris has the power to open a path to citizenship for the undocumented, activists say


La vicepresidenta Harris es Presidenta del Senado.
Vice President Harris is President of the Senate.

Photo: Spencer Platt / / Getty Images

Dozens of civil society organizations and coalitions of immigrant advocates sent a letter to the Vice President Kamala Harris , where they ask her to use her authority as president of the Senate, to integrate a possible immigration reform .

The activists’ goal is for the vice president to help circumvent the opinion of the parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough , so that the Democrats in Congress can integrate a plan to grant citizenship to millions of undocumented people in the project of the Reconciliation process .

Among the groups supporting the petition are NAKASEC Action Fund, CASA in Action, Center for Popular Democracy Action, NYIC Action, CHIRLA, Make the Road New York and FIRM Action.

The letter states as an example that, in 1975, former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller ignored the decisions of then-MP Robert Dove.

“Vice President Harris has a historic and unprecedented opportunity to pave the way for Democrats to finally deliver on the promise of a path to citizenship ai ndocumented ”, said Ana Maria Archila, from the Action Center for Popular Democracy. “(She can) act as President of the Senate, can and should recognize that including a path to citizenship in Reconciliation does not violate Senate rules.”

Nearly a hundred law academics and activist groups also asked Vice President Harris to ignore a parliamentary hurdle and include immigration reform in the budget law that the Senate must consider.

“As you know, the vice president fulfills the function of president (of the Senate) when she attends the session,” the academics wrote in their message also addressed to the head of the Democratic caucus Chuck Schumer (New York).

With information from EFE