Senate could disobey the parliamentarian and push citizenship for undocumented immigrants after rejection of plan C

“We will seek all means to achieve a path to citizenship in the Better Rebuild Act” , several senators said in a joint statement. “We totally disagree with the interpretation of the Senate parliamentarian on our immigration proposal.”

The position It was signed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (New York) and his colleagues Dick Durbin (Illinois), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee; Bob Menendez (New Jersey), Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee; Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada), Alex Padilla (California), Chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee, and Representative Ben Ray Luján (New Mexico).

At The statement highlights that the senators reject that a kind of immigration reform is “an occurrence” to be integrated into the Build Back Better (BBB – Reconstruir Mejor) of $ 1. 75 billions of dollars.

“ We have worked to ensure that immigration reform is not treated as a last minute occurrence “, they said.

For now, senators only have the option of presenting a plan D to the parliamentarian or reject his position and push another plan, something that Senator Durbin had already publicly considered.

MacDonough refused to endorse plan C, which provided for temporary protection for the deportation and Employment Authorization by 10 years or maximum at .

He considered that the plan could not be approved under the Reconciliation process, because it was similar to the first two that he rejected, although it did not open a path to citizenship .

“ The proposed ‘parole’ policy is not much different in its impact on the previous proposals that we have considered ”, he said.

Added to apply This adjustment would increase the budget deficit by $ 115, 000 millions of dollars during 10 years, in addition to creating a new kind of “category” of people protected with ‘parole’.

Pressure from organizations

Civil organizations in favor of immigrants, as well as labor groups, criticized the decision of the parliamentarian MacDonough , in addition to pressuring the senators not to take it into consideration.

“The Senate can and must arrive to another conclusion in its version of the Build Back Better Act, which … invests significantly in all levels of American society, except immigrants, “considered the Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants (CHIRLA). “We believe the Senate can make Build Back Better more equitable by including a path to citizenship, with green cards, through a registry update.”

CHIRLA refers to modify the date of the Registry Law , which would allow undocumented immigrants who arrived before that new date, for example 2010, they can request the ‘green card’ without family or work patronage.

Mary Kay Henry, international president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) considered that Congress and the White House should push the way to citizenship.

“The unelected # parliamentarian has expressed her opinion arbitrary and partial, but it is not the end of our struggle… Congress and the White House must have the courage to step forward and create a path to citizenship