House Democrats pass immigration bills for Dreamers, farm workers

WASHINGTON — House Democrats passed two immigration bills Thursday that would provide a path to citizenship for nearly 3 million farmworkers and undocumented immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children — including about 40,300 in Nevada.

The legislation was passed with little Republican support and faces hurdles in the narrowly divided Senate as a humanitarian crisis looms along the U.S.-Mexico border, with asylum seekers and unaccompanied children arriving daily.

House Democrats, backed by the White House, passed a bill that would provide protections and create a path for citizenship for the so-called Dreamers and people with temporary protected status by a vote of 228-197. Nine Republicans joined Democrats.

A separate vote on a bill that would overhaul a farmworker program and provide eventual citizenship was approved, 247-174. Nevada Republican Rep. Mark Amodei and about two dozen GOP members voted with Democrats to pass the measure supported by Western states’ growers and agriculture producers.

Nevada’s congressional delegation voted along party lines on the two measures.

“Dreamers and TPS recipients are essential members of the Las Vegas community,” said Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., in a statement.

She said “they are nurses, teachers, entrepreneurs — and more importantly our colleagues, neighbors and friends.” Many, Titus said, “served on the front lines of this pandemic.”

There are about 40,300 immigrants in Nevada who would qualify for protected status under the newest version of the Dream Act and for those with temporary protected status, according to the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank.

Crisis at the border

Most Republicans voted in opposition to both bills and focused their criticism on the Biden administration as an increasing number of people arrive at the southern border seeking asylum from Latin American countries.

Most alarming is the number of children showing up unaccompanied by adults.

“There is a crisis on our southern border. It is a humanitarian crisis. A public health crisis. A national security crisis,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who traveled to El Paso, Texas, this week and held a news conference blaming President Joe Biden’s policies.

Former President Donald Trump led efforts to deny Dreamers protected status achieved by executive order by then-President Barack Obama. A majority of Republicans also supported Trump in building a border wall to keep undocumented immigrants out and limits on legal immigration.

Biden has called for comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants who are living in the country. But under filibuster rules, a razor-thin Democratic majority in the Senate would require substantial GOP support to pass reform legislation.

Long path to citizenship

Even the bills passed by the House targeting narrow subgroups of undocumented immigrants face an uncertain future in the Senate where legislative filibuster rules would require 60 votes to bring the legislation to the floor.

The Dreamer bill passed by the House would require undocumented immigrants brought to this country illegally to graduate from high school, get a job or serve in the military, and avoid legal trouble to obtain legal permanent status. They could then seek citizenship, a process that would take more than 10 years.

The roughly 400,000 immigrants with temporary protected status would also be able to eventually seek permanent status and citizenship.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.