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The process to negotiate in the Senate some protection for undocumented immigrants goes through informal meetings with the parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough. The first encounter about the so-called plan C or ‘parole’ occurred this Tuesday.
A Senate source informed this newspaper that the technical teams of several Senators, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (New York); Bernie Sanders (Vermont), Chairman of the Budget Committee; Dick Durbin (Illinois), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Alex Padilla (California), president of the Immigration Subcommittee, among others.
“It was in a preliminary way. You have not given an idea on whether you agree or not (with the plan) ”, said the member of the team of the Democratic caucus in the Senate, who does not reveal his name as he is not authorized to speak publicly about the process.
It was questioned about the Axios report that there is “progress” and that the parliamentarian gave positive signals about the plan.
“ There are certain people who want be more optimistic “, stated the source, who insisted that it was a technical review, in order to outline the memorandum that makes the formal request.
She explained that the process before Parliamentarian MacDonough consists of several steps .
“It basically works like a court” , stated, since Democrats must present “their case”, that is, the formal proposal to the parliamentarian and defend it .
However, Republicans will also need to weigh in on the plan to grant a forgiveness of deportation to undocumented or ‘parole’ , Employment Authorization, permission to travel abroad, opportunity to apply for a REAL ID and access certain social benefits.
“(Democrats ) deliver a memo … the same with the Republicans. Both present their arguments ”, it was indicated.
Although the source did not specify it, it is possible that in the formal meeting with the parliamentary, which could happen in the first days of the following week, the Republican senators team Chuck Grassley (Iowa), the highest ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, and John Cornyn (Texas), a member of rank of your bench in the Immigration Subcommittee.
Why is the meeting
The sessions with the parliamentarian on immigration are part of the so-called “Byrd bath ”, that is, the revision of each plan integrated into the Build Back Better bill (BBB – Rebuild Better) , in order for them to follow the rules under the Reconciliation process.
About the so-called immigration plan B – when it is proposed I used to modify the Registry Law to allow undocumented immigrants to apply for the ‘green card’ – the meetings with the parliamentarian MacDonough were informal, that means that her refusal cannot be considered as official, but if the Democrats had presented it a memorandum she would have faced complications at the time of the so-called “Byrd bath”.
The expert, whom some Democratic congressmen and activists consider “non-binding”, should consider the report of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO ), which estimated that about 6.5 million undocumented could benefit , although immigrant advocates say there would be 7.1 million.
There are several projects that the parliamentarian must review, such as tax proposals, the environmental program, among others.