Following the rejection of the Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, to plan C or ‘parole’ to protect undocumented immigrants, experts from civil organizations indicated that the Senate They still have options to approve a kind of immigration reform without taking into account the legislative official .
They even pointed out that President Joe Biden could sign an executive order protecting certain undocumented immigrants , though not to pave the way for citizenship, though recognize that this would open a legal battle with the Republicans.
In a conference Raúl Hinojosa, professor and researcher at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), said that President Biden could issue the order, but surely there would be challenges in the courts from Republicans as happened with the measures taken by former President Barack Obama to protect undocumented children and that originated the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
“Although some Republicans agree with an immigration reform, they will not support it because they would be against the speech of (now former President Donald) Trump “, considered Hinojosa.
The expert considered that it was time for the Democrats to act to achieve” unity and power. ” .
“It’s very frustrating,” said the professor, who does not blame the Democrats for the stagnation after 35 years of not passing immigration reform. “The problem here is the system that is designed for a white minority to wield power.”
Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), considered that the Democrats still They have options.
“We believe that the Democratic senators still have a path and the power to pass immigration reform now,” said the expert.
The parliamentarian rejected last Thursday to endorse the proposal that would protect undocumented immigrants from deportation, in addition to granting them Employment Authorization, the possibility of traveling and obtaining a REAL ID, considering that it would generate an impact of more than $ 100, 000 million dollars in 10 years into the treasury.
Following MacDonouhg’s decision, several senators, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (New York), considered that they will push options to include the in migrants.
“We will seek all means to achieve a path to citizenship in the Better Rebuild Law” , several senators said in a statement. “We totally disagree with the interpretation of the Senate parliamentarian on our immigration proposal.”
Among the paths that the groups have presented is the possibility of ignoring the opinion of MacDonough , an idea that was proposed since the first time he overthrew a Democratic proposal last September.
Angélica Salas, director of the Coalition for Human Rights of Immigrants (CHIRLA), asserted that the strategy to follow is to “avoid and ignore the parliamentarian (McDonough) now,” arguing that Democrats, among other reasons, were chosen to give millions of immigrants a path to citizenship.
Hincapié reminded Democrats that the option has been on the table for months.
This Friday, dozens of immigrants gathered in front of the Supreme Court of Justice in Washington in protest against MacDonough’s decision, and calling for action.
“The decision (of the parliamentarian) was expected but as people of faith and hope, we Franciscans continue to urge the Senate to pass a law that gives permanent protections and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, ”said Marie Lucey, associate director of the Franciscan Action Network, on the hope that exists for the approval of the reform.
With information from EFE
