This week the White House reiterated President Biden’s controversial plan to create a pathway to citizenship for at least 11 million illegal immigrants.
Congressional Democrats are expected to formally present a sweeping immigration bill later this week.
“There certainly is part of the proposal that the president outlined and proposed on Day One that is an earned pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the country,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
A pathway to citizenship for all illegal immigrants in the country has long been a top item on liberal wishlists, and Biden promised such a plan if elected. Estimates generally put the illegal immigrant population at about 11 million, although others suggest that could be higher.
The proposal, sketched out by the administration on Inauguration Day, would include an 8-year path to citizenship for illegal immigrants — a path that includes a five year path to a green card and a three-year path to citizenship after background checks and other steps.
“He also is somebody who believes in the rights of the DACA recipients to be in the country,” Psaki said of Biden, noting that the DACA executive order occurred when he was vice president.
The bill, which also includes provisions to stem the flow of migration by addressing root causes of migration from south of the border, as well as some border security measures, faces an uncertain path to becoming law — particularly in the Senate, where it would need 10 Republican votes.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has suggested a more limited bill that focuses on DACA recipients, proposing it with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and describing it as “a starting point for us to find bipartisan breakthroughs providing relief to the Dreamers and also repairing a broken immigration system.
According to Psaki, the comprehensive bill would be presented soon “but Congress will have to work through what it looks like moving forward, and what components will be included here and what components could be dealt with separately.”
