Senate parliamentarian rejects latest immigration proposal in reconciliation bill
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WASHINGTON – The Senate parliamentarian rejected the latest proposal Thursday to include immigration reform in the Build Back Better Act — another blow to President Joe Biden's immigration agenda.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., a key member pushing for immigration to be included, confirmed to reporters on Capitol Hill that the parliamentarian rejected this "Plan C" proposal, according to a pool report.
The Build Back Better legislation is a wide-ranging package of Democratic social spending priorities, which includes free preschool, initiatives to fight climate change and affordable housing programs. The House passed the roughly $2 trillion legislation on a 220-213 vote in mid-November just before the Thanksgiving recess.
Under the immigration provision, undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States prior to 2011 would be given temporary protection for five years. The protection would allow an estimated 7 million individuals to get renewable employment authorization.
Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Bob Menendez, D-N.J., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M. and Alex Padilla, D-Calif., issued a joint statement Thursday pledging to continue to pursue options to include immigration reform in the reconciliation bill.
“We strongly disagree with the Senate parliamentarian’s interpretation of our immigration proposal, and we will pursue every means to achieve a path to citizenship in the Build Back Better Act,” the senators said in the joint statement.
Some immigration activists and progressive lawmakers have called on the Senate to ignore the parliamentarian’s ruling and to still include a pathway to citizenship in the Build Back Better Act. However, it is unclear whether there is enough support in the Senate to overrule MacDonough’s recommendation.
The White House expressed their disappointment with the parliamentarian’s decision Thursday evening.
“The President, this Administration, and our partners on the Hill vehemently disagree with this decision and will keep fighting to give relief and protection to the many Dreamers, TPS holders, farm workers, and essential workers who are living in fear,” the White House said in a statement. “Ultimately, it’s time for Congress to stop kicking the can down the road and finally provide certainty and stability to these groups, and make other badly needed reforms to our outdated immigration system.”
Senate Democratic aides met with the parliamentarian's office earlier this month on the Byrd Rule, which prohibits the Senate from considering "extraneous matter" not tied to the budget in the reconciliation bill.
Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian, has twice blocked Democratic plans to include immigration reform that could offer protection for millions of undocumented immigrant in the reconciliation bill.
In late September, the parliamentarian rejected a proposal that would have included a date change to the immigration registry, which would have made 6.7 million people eligible for permanent residency. Earlier that month, MacDonough also ruled against including immigration language that would have provided a pathway to citizenship for some groups of immigrants.
Durbin said he was "disappointed" by the ruling and said the parliamentarian gave the "same reasoning" as to why she rejected the previous immigration proposals.
"Just too many rights extended," he told reporters.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who has argued against the immigration proposals to the parliamentarian, said in a statement Thursday “that giving amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants isn’t a budgetary matter appropriate for reconciliation.”
“Passing these measures on a party-line vote would set a terrible precedent and further erode the valuable role of the Senate as a legislative body that requires debate, consultation, and compromise in order to enact major policy proposals into law,” Grassley said.
Contributing: Savannah Berhmann
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Senate parliamentarian rejects immigration reform in reconciliation bill
