WASHINGTON
One of Congress’ fiercest advocates for immigration reform says protections for undocumented people will be included in a sweeping year-end budget bill despite a decision from a Senate official who found the proposals don’t belong in the spending package.
The $3.5 trillion package, known as the budget reconciliation bill, aims to set funding aside for social spending, such as for paid leave, tax deductions and these immigration provisions. Democrats want to use it for immigration reform because they can pass a spending bill without any Republican votes.
“I haven’t given up on the reconciliation opportunity at all,” California Sen. Alex Padilla said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee on Thursday.
A draft of the bill introduced this summer designated pathways to citizenship for immigrants in the U.S. under four different residency statuses, including people who have temporary protections through Deferred Arrival for Childhood Arrivals and essential workers. Essential workers include people in the grocery, construction and farming industries, which heavily rely on immigrants’ labor.
Padilla, California’s former secretary of state who was tapped by Gov. Gavin Newsom to fill the Senate seat vacated by vice president Kamala Harris this year, advocated for those provisions to be included.
The Senate parliamentarian — Elizabeth MacDonough, an outside adviser who ensures that Senate proposals are within the purview of the chamber’s procedures — recommended that the language be cut. She wrote in a ruling that the immigration policy changes originally included would “far outweigh the budgetary impact scored to it.”
Senate Democrats estimated that the original legislation would lead to citizenship for about 8 million immigrants. They argued that the initiatives would cost about $140 billion, and that the financial impact would justify their inclusion in the bill that is reserved for spending measures.
“We’re going to keep fighting. I know the parliamentarian said ‘no’ to an initial proposal that we had in front of her, but there’s still a number of different options that I think fit the criteria for budget consideration,” Padilla said.
Budget reconciliation requires a simple majority to pass, meaning that Democrats in the 50-50 Senate would have an easier time passing social spending measures that face Republican refusal, if lawmakers come to an agreement on some of its other tax and spending purposes. It is expected to be rewritten and likely not voted on for months.
For Padilla, whose first bill introduced as a U.S. senator aimed to provide a pathway for essential workers to get citizenship, the fight continues. He and other Democrats are continuing to revise the language to include protections for undocumented and documented immigrants.
“Citizenship is just good all around: good for the individual, good for the family, good for the economy,” he said of people living in the U.S. regardless of whether or not their immigration status is legal. “It just creates more opportunity and more people realizing their American dream.”
This story was originally published October 08, 2021 5:00 AM.
