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By: The opinion Updated 03 Mar 2022, 11: 57 am EST
The Senate could have to take more extreme actions if it wants to advance in an immigration reform that protects millions of undocumented immigrants, for this the majority leader, Democrat Chuck Schumer (New York), confirmed that he will support disobeying the parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough .
“There is an opportunity for immigration reform ”, Schumer said.
The senator explained that several of his Hispanic colleagues, including Bob Menéndez (New Jersey), chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations; Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada) and Ray Luján (New Mexico) could sponsor a proposal for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants without taking into account the parliamentarian
“They are going to disobey the parliamentarian and I am going to support them with that”, said Schumer, who is the first time he has expressed this publicly clearly. “Maybe we have the possibility of obtaining 11 votes to maintain that project… to achieve citizenship ”.
The Democratic leader does not mention the senator Alex Padilla (California), chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration, as part of the plan, but a source from his team confirmed that he would be part of that legislative movement.
Leader Schumer clarified that the proposal will depend on the Democrats managing to reinstate the Build Back Better project, which is still under negotiation behind the scenes.
“So, if we can reinstate the law under Reconciliation – and of course we are trying to work with all the senators, including Senator Manchin– we will advance in immigration even this year ”, he explained. .
Regarding the period in which this could occur, the senator indicated that it could be between May and June.
There is no clarity on what project could be promoted, but civil organizations and several congressmen supported amending the Registry Law , to modify the date of acceptance of applications for Permanent Legal Residence or ‘green card’.
It should be remembered that this plan was also rejected by MP MacDonough, but it happened informally, without a specific project being delivered.
In his State of the Union message, President Biden called on Congress to move forward with protecting immigrants, including dreamers and farmworkers.