Senate Democrats plan to meet with Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough on Friday to see if they can include a pathway to citizenship provision for undocumented immigrants in the $3.5 trillion spending bill.
According to Politico, the Senate Judiciary Committee will be drafting the language on the immigration provision, but it is not likely the parliamentarian will rule in favor of it.
Democrats will need to convince the parliamentarian the proposal meets the Senate budget requirements for the provision to be included. If included, the provision would open up a pathway to citizenship for “DACA recipients, Temporary Protected Status holders, farmworkers, and other immigrants deemed essential workers in the pandemic.”
Democrats claim the legislation coincides with an Obama-era campaign promise regarding those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. In July, a federal Texas judge ruled the DACA program was illegal, blocking any processing of new applications under the Biden administration.
But Democrats believe Republican-led legislation from 2005 that included immigration changes during a budgetary process strengthens their argument to have such a provision this time.
