8 SEP 2021

Immigration Hub: A Path to Citizenship Meets the Litmus Test to Pass Via Reconciliation

Washington, DC — In response to the news of Friday’s meeting where Senate Democrats will make the case to include a path to citizenship for Dreamers, farm workers, TPS-holders and essential immigrant workers, Kerri Talbot, Deputy Director of the Immigration Hub, issued the following statement:

“We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: there is no question that a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants meets the litmus test to pass via reconciliation.

“There is both an economic and moral imperative to allow the millions of individuals who are part of America’s essential workforce to continue to contribute to our recovery. This isn’t controversial - this is about moving forward a solution with a large budgetary impact that has overwhelming bipartisan public support.

“Senate Democrats are boldly delivering on a long-held promise to voters by pursuing immigration reform and they will make clear that a path to citizenship for immigrant families is viable via reconciliation.

“Since day one of this Congress, the strength and tenacity of the immigrant rights movement has encouraged congressional leaders to use every option and tool available to ensure undocumented immigrants can get on a path to citizenship. We’ve built up to this moment - and we’re ready to fulfill this promise.”

The Case for Immigration in Budget Reconciliation

  • Citizenship boosts economic growth, creates jobs and increases wages for Americans. Providing a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, farm workers, and essential workers would boost GDP by a cumulative total of $1.5 trillion over 10 years, create over 400,000 new jobs, and increase wages for all American workers by $600. Undocumented immigrants would also contribute an added $149 billion of spending power each year if they were U.S. citizens. This added income could result in an additional $39 billion in combined federal, payroll, state, and local taxes each year. A reconciliation bill with a path to citizenship included will have large-scale economic benefits for all Americans.

  • Voters across the political spectrum support creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. An overwhelming majority of Americans support providing a pathway to citizenship to undocumented immigrants over deporting them (79% to 21%). That includes base Republicans who prefer citizenship over deportation by a 61% to 39% margin. Another poll found that 70% of Americans support fixing our immigration system and 75% of voters agree that we need a humane, orderly process to provide asylum claims and a chance for a fair hearing when dealing with migrants at the border. In the same poll, voters want to see solutions and actions. 71% of voters agree that politicians have been talking about immigration reform for 30 years, nothing permanent has been done, and they want to see progress.

  • A path to citizenship for workers should qualify for a budget bill because immigration has an important budgetary impact. In the short term, immigration reform has a budget impact of over $100 billion. While long-term economic impacts may not be considered in the analysis of whether a proposal is included in the package from a parliamentary perspective, immigration has long-term economic benefits for U.S. workers and the country as a whole and is critical for the country’s economic growth.

  • The Senate has included immigration in reconciliation before. In 2005, the Republican-controlled Senate overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan reconciliation bill that increased the number of immigrant green cards. The budget reconciliation process has been used multiple times throughout history for major legislation including health care, benefits and tax legislation.

  • Democrats can use reconciliation to pass urgent legislation such as protection for Dreamers and others. Despite the interest of the American people in commonsense immigration solutions, Republicans continue to obstruct efforts by Democrats in Congress to deliver citizenship for these individuals. Democrats must ensure that a pathway to citizenship is a part of the budget reconciliation in order to achieve a recovery that is truly equitable and inclusive for all regardless of immigration status.

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The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.