Senators Kirsten Sinema and Tom Tillis have brokered a bipartisan immigration deal that would strengthen border security and pave the way for citizenship for 2 million “Dreamers,” a new report says.
Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Tillis (RN.C.) are pushing for a vote before the current lame-duck session of Congress ends this month on a proposal that would extend Health Care Policy 42 for another year. , This was reported by the Washington Post on Monday.
But they’re running against the clock — a federal judge is scheduled to end the Trump-era Title 42 policy to deport 2.3 million immigrants on Dec. 21, and Congress is scheduled to begin its recess. Next day.
Meanwhile, the House and Senate are scrambling to pass defense spending legislation and avoid a government shutdown before the end of the year.
The bill, drafted by Sinema and Tillis, would protect the Dreamers with at least $25 billion to increase border security and hire more officers and raise their salaries, the Washington Post reported.
The newspaper quoted a Senate aide as saying the funding could even exceed $40 billion.
Proposition 42 would allow another year to remain in effect so processing centers could be built to house migrants while their immigration cases are pending in the courts.
Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered the Biden administration to phase out the policy after law enforcement and immigration officials warned that ending the order could lead to a flood of up to 18,000 migrants crossing the U.S. border each day. gave an additional five weeks.
Also speeding up the timeline are fears among lawmakers that federal courts could overturn the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in the coming months.
Last July, a federal judge in Texas ruled the program illegal and federal appellate court this summer sent the case back to a judge for further review this summer.
DACA protects illegal immigrants brought to the United States by their parents as children from deportation.
The 11th-hour proposal faces a bumpy road in Congress, and it’s unclear whether Sinema and Tillis can muster the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate, including 10 Republicans.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he wasn’t involved in the negotiations and threw cold water on the possibility of Senate passage this year.
“I don’t think there’s any way they can pass immigration legislation without solving the border crisis,” Cornyn told the Washington Post.
He said the lack of enforcement action at the border by the Biden White House has made it “almost impossible” to reform the immigration system for the better.
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