WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s promised comprehensive immigration legislation hit the Hill on Thursday, but Democrats cautioned that the legislation represents the president’s “vision” for the system and not necessarily a bipartisan package.
“It’s our vision of what immigration reform should look like. And it’s a bill we can all be proud of,” Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who is introducing the bill in the Senate, said at a virtual news conference.
The 353-page draft bill, dubbed the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, would mark the first drastic overhaul of the U.S. immigration system in years.
It would include a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, including so-called Dreamers brought to the U.S. as children, ease the green card process for families and eliminate a rule requiring foreign citizens to apply for asylum within one year of entering the U.S., among other sweeping changes.
But Menendez acknowledged passing such a bill is “not going to be easy, and we recognize that.” Democrats hold just a slim majority in the Senate, and would need the support of at least 10 Republicans for the bill to move forward.
“I know that many are thinking, does this bill have any chance of passing the Senate with 60 votes? And the answer is, we won’t know until we try,” Menendez said.
He also signaled that other paths to pass immigration protections could be included in a second reconciliation package, which could pass with a straight majority.
“While it would be a question of first impression in terms of reconciliation, I think there may be strong arguments to make it,” Menendez said. Democrats also indicated they would be willing to pass smaller standalone immigration bills where needed.
Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., who is spearheading the House version of the bill, added that “all options are on the table.”
The new bill makes good on Biden’s campaign promise to put forth a comprehensive immigration bill with a fix for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., including those brought to the U.S. as children.
Biden sent a proposal of that bill to Congress on his first day in office, and the final product tracks closely with the summary he sent at the time.
Prior to the release of the bill text, Biden administration officials said in a media call the evening before that the measure would revamp the green card process, including an increase in the 7% per country caps on family-based green cards — which have kept immigrants from populous countries like India and China waiting decades for visas to become available — to 20%.
Officials said the bill will work to clear out backlogs by exempting more categories of immigrants from the green card caps, including spouses and minor children of U.S. permanent residents and foreign citizens with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and math.
Additionally, it will create a pilot program to spur regional economic development and allow county or municipal officials to sponsor foreign citizens for visas in occupations where there are shortages of U.S. workers.
The legislation will also attempt to address root causes of migration from Central America, enhance security technology at the border and make it easier to prosecute smugglers and traffickers, according to the officials.
In the Wednesday night call, Biden administration officials dodged questions about whether Democrats would consider more creative methods of getting their bill passed, such as eliminating the filibuster, which creates a 60-vote hurdle in the Senate, or trying to shove the bill through the reconciliation process, which would allow it to pass with a straight majority.
An official said the administration is “focused on getting the bill introduced” right now.
“I think it’s just too early to speculate about it now,” the official said in response to a question about reconciliation. “We want to first defer to our sponsors of this bill about what’s possible.”
Highlighting Biden’s decadeslong tenure in the Senate, the official also signaled that Biden would be willing to compromise to get something passed.
“If Republicans want to come forward and work on immigration, I think the president is open to working with everyone who wants to get something done and get a bill to his desk,” the official said.
It’s been eight years since a viable comprehensive immigration bill was on the table, put forth in 2013 by the bipartisan group of senators known as the “Gang of Eight.” While that bill passed the Senate, it stalled in the then-Republican-controlled House.
