UUSJ is joining other advocacy organizations in supporting national legislation expediting pathways to citizenship for essential workers during the pandemic and their families. If passed, it would provide over five million undocumented workers and families with immediate legal permanent residence status, including a million Dreamers.

Late last month, Reps. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) and Ted Lieu (D-CA) introduced the “Citizenship for Essential Workers Act” — in the House. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) introduced a similar bill in the Senate on the same day.

President Biden’s comprehensive immigration reform bill was also introduced last month in the House and Senate, with many co-sponsors joining sponsors Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA).  Among many other components, it would provide all 11 million undocumented persons with a pathway to legal status.

On parallel tracks, many immigration-related bills from the last (116th) Congress were re-introduced.  These include the Dream Act and SECURE Act (Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protective Status (TPS) in Senate; the Dream and Promise Act in House, plus the Farmworker Modernization Act and a package calling for greater oversight of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and reunification of separated families.

President Biden also last month raised the cap on refugee resettlement to 125,000 for next year (starting October 1).  In the year ending Sept. 30, 2020, fewer than 12,000 refugees were admitted. To prepare, resettlement agencies are ramping up program staffing and overseas State Department and US Citizenship and Immigration Services offices will need to do so. The President may also seek to raise the cap on refugees admitted to the United States for this fiscal year, which the Trump Administration had set in the fall at 15,000, a record low.  However, the ability to implement higher numbers so soon remains uncertain.

All of these bills could be used to craft a compromise of the comprehensive immigration bill or be included in other “must-pass” legislation, such as future COVID-relief bills.