Jacqueline Peraza | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Migrant farmworkers and young unauthorized immigrants are waiting for the U.S. Senate to vote on two separate immigration bills that, if approved, could lead to U.S. citizenship for both groups.
On March 18, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on H.R. 6 and H.R. 1603 to pass on to the Senate for approval.
Jodi Goodwin, an immigration attorney in Harlingen, said the two bills would provide a pathway for citizenship to many individuals.
“What we know is that it would provide a path to legalization and citizenship for individuals who are Dreamers,” Goodwin said. “It would include people who have DACA already but it would also include individuals that may not have qualified for DACA, for whatever reason. It would also include agricultural workers … and include a path to legaliziation for individuals who are undocumented but can show they’ve been in the United States for some time.”
DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program that was implemented during the Obama administration. The program allows individuals who were brought to the United States as children to stay here.
The first bill passed was H.R. 6, or the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, sponsored by Rep. Lu- cille Roybal-Allard (D-Califor-nia). The House’s final vote on the bill was 228 to 197.
H.R. 6 states it “provides certain aliens with a path to receive permanent resident status and contains other immigration-related provisions,” according to congress.gov.
If approved, the bill would directly affect the citizenship status of Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status recipients and Deferred Enforced Departure beneficiaries.
Roxanna Miranda/The Rider Photo
H.R. 1603, or the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021, sponsored by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-California) and Dan Newhouse (R-Washington), was approved, 247 to 174, by the House during a second vote.
“The bill provides a compromise solution by permitting farmworkers and their spouses and children–to earn legal status through continued employment in the agricultural sector, and would make changes to the H-2A agricultural guest worker program,” according to lofgren.house.gov.
Despite the bills being approved by the House, they are expected to be rejected after the Senate’s final vote.
“It’s a highly partisan issue and the margin in the Senate is a much smaller margin in terms of Democrats and Republicans,” Goodwin said. “We’re probably going to see actions on the part of the Republicans, within the Senate, to stall the bill out.”
She said it is possible that H.R. 6 and H.R. 1603 could have a higher chance of being approved by the Senate if revisions are made to them.
“They could change language about eligibility requirements,” Goodwin said. “They could change language about dates. They could add in language about enforcement priorities or certain funding issues. There are a lot of things that could change.”
In the case that the bills are not passed by the Senate, she said the Biden administration could try to accomplish the same goals through policy or regulation without making it law.
“That’s not the preferable approach, just because laws are much harder to change than policies or regulations to the extent that you can make significant change through law, but that’s more longstanding and more likely to withstand future political pendulum swings,” Goodwin said. “Regulations and policy, that can sort of come and go with the wind of politics.”
As of press time Friday, the Senate had not voted on H.R. 6 and H.R. 1603. According to congress.gov, both bills were “Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary” as of March 22.
