Senators are seeking to pass a bipartisan immigration bill to tighten border security in return for a pathway to citizenship for 2 million people who were brought to the United States illegally as children.
Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) have reached an initial deal on concessions that each party would have to make to pass immigration reforms in the lame-duck session before the year’s end, according to a Washington Post opinion writer who obtained a copy of the plan’s top points.
BORDER CRISIS NOT TO BLAME FOR SUICIDE AMONG BORDER OFFICIALS
The proposal states that the Department of Homeland Security would receive a big boost in resources to help its asylum officers and immigration judges start and finish claims of asylum faster, as well as court proceedings for the 2 million people who illegally crossed the southern border over the past year.
DHS would also receive more resources to speed up the removal of noncitizens who do not meet the guidelines for asylum.
Democrats would get a permanent solution for “Dreamers,” noncitizens who were approved for the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, to work legally in the country and avoid deportation for two years at a time.
Republicans would also score a huge win: the short-term continuation of Title 42, a public health emergency protocol that allows U.S. border officials to turn away illegal immigrants immediately rather than take people into custody. Title 42 would end once new DHS processing centers open.
Improving the asylum process, something President Joe Biden promised two years ago but his administration has yet to deliver on, could alleviate some of the strain on Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The government cannot detain children or families in federal custody for more than 20 days; therefore, children and families must be released into the U.S. and expected to show up for legal proceedings as late as six to eight years in the future due to massive immigration court backlogs.
The Border Patrol is apprehending 150,000 to 230,000 people at the southern border monthly, and the majority are not expelled despite Title 42 remaining in place. Instead, those apprehended are detained for a short period and then released into the country.
Conservative immigration experts balked at the proposal and dragged Tillis for getting on board with the deal.
“The conceptual problem with a Dreamers-for-border-enforcement deal is that the feds are supposed to enforce the border regardless of anything else. No conditions,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director for the Center for Immigration Studies, in a post to Twitter on Monday afternoon.
“Ongoing massive layoffs, Americans struggling w/high inflation & economic tailwinds. Historic levels of illegal immigration & an Admin that has contempt for rule of law. What is @SenatorSinema & @SenTHomTillis’ Christmas gift to American people? #Amnesty!” immigration restriction group NumbersUSA wrote in a reaction to the news on Twitter.
Fifteen of the most prominent conservative immigration groups in the country, including NumbersUSA and the Center for Immigration Studies, banded together in a push last week for Republicans not to cave to Democrats on any last-minute immigration deal.
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Left-leaning Alliance for a New Immigration Consensus praised the bipartisan plan.
“An overwhelming majority of Americans are calling for leadership out of Washington right now to restore order at the border and deliver solutions for Dreamers,” said ANIC, a coalition of three dozen private organizations, in a statement Monday. “Senators Tillis and Sinema have introduced a thoughtful foundation that reflects years of bipartisan debate and policy proposals. We urge more of their colleagues to come to the table.”
