A group of senators reached an initial bipartisan framework that opens the way to citizenship for two million undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children, known as
dreamers
, in exchange for strengthening security on the border with Mexico, among other requirements, The Washington Post reported Monday.
Senator Kyrsten Sinema, D-Arizona, and Senator Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, managed to draft an immigration proposal that would unravel the immigration status of a portion of people residing in the country without permission, within weeks of their Republicans take control of the House of Representatives in January and it will be more difficult to agree on positions.
A group of Dreamers demonstrate outside the Capitol in Washington DC on November 17, 2022.Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The initiative would grant citizenship to two million people in return for allocating at least $25 billion more to the Border Patrol budget and extending Title 42 for at least one more year, the measure activated by the Administration of former President Donald Trump in March 2020 to expel the majority of asylum seekers who cross the border under the guise of the COVID-19 pandemic, until new "regional processing centers" are built.
Title 42 will disappear by court order on December 21, after Washington, DC federal judge Emmet Sullivan ruled in November that the measure is “arbitrary and capricious” and “violates” the law.
Some 2.4 million migrants have been expelled to Mexico under this provision.
[The number of migrants who obtain citizenship rises to record levels... but also the pending cases and the term to achieve it]
The bipartisan proposal also contemplates expediting the asylum process, increasing the salary of border agents and expanding the staff of this force.
"It's a bipartisan effort and that's positive," Vanessa Cárdena, executive director of America's Voice, explained to Telemundo News.
But "obviously the details matter and that's what we want to see," she said.
They report that the Government considers new rules to limit asylum applications
Dec 2, 202202:29
The White House did not want to comment on this initiative, considering that it is in a preliminary phase and does not know the details, according to what Noticias Telemundo learned.
The initial challenge for this bill is to get 60 votes in the Senate, where Democrats have 50 seats.
At the same time, Senators Michael F. Bennet, Democrat of Colorado, and Mike Crapo, Republican of Idaho, are negotiating language based on a measure passed by the Upper House that would grant citizenship to some undocumented farmworkers, according to The Washington Post.
[Many immigrants fear gang retaliation after ICE mistake]
Although they have not yet reached an agreement, they hope to do so before the end of this month's session, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.
One of President Joe Biden's electoral promises is to approve immigration reform, which will solve the immigration status of a large part of the 11 million people who live in the United States illegally.
Of those, nearly 700,000 are protected from removal thanks to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, implemented in 2012 by the former president.
As migrants look to the end of Title 42 with hope, Republicans redouble their efforts to keep it
Nov 23, 202201:42
However, the future of DACA is uncertain.
In early October, an appeals court ruled in favor of maintaining the program, but backed barring new applicants from enrolling, even if they qualify.
At the same time, the flow of migrants crossing the border without permission remains at record levels.
Fiscal year 2022, which ended on September 30 of this year, closed with a record of 2.76 million interceptions, mainly due to an increase in
Venezuelan
,
Cuban and Nicaraguan migrants, according to the Border Patrol.