On July 20th, a new registry bill was introduced in Congress
that could help 8.5 million undocumented immigrants adjust their status.
The bill, called the "Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration
Act of 1929," was introduced into the House of Representatives
by Zoe Lofgren, along with 43 other co-sponsors.
But who exactly does the bill apply to and how would they qualify?
And what is the likelihood that the bill will be passed by Congress and become law?
Stay tuned, because we'll answer all these questions
as we take a closer look at details of the legislation.
And if this is your first time on my channel, be sure to subscribe
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What exactly is registry and how does it work?
The Registry Act of 1929 said
that immigrants who had continuously been in the country
since 1921, were of good moral character, and who were otherwise not subject
to deportation, could receive a record of lawful admission
and be allowed to adjust to lawful permanent resident status.
In later years, Congress continued to update the statutory
eligible requirements to 1924, then 1928,
then 1940, and finally 1972 by former President Reagan
in the "immigration Reform and Control Act" of 1986.
Since then, the subject of immigration has become politically polarized,
preventing an updated registry date from making its way through Congress.
As a result, the number of immigrants who were able to adjust their status
through registry has decreased over the past several decades,
with only 305 people applying between the years 2015 and 2019.
If you regularly watch my channel, then you probably remember me
talking about registry when Congress was trying to pass the Build Back
Better bill through budget reconciliation last year.
After the Senate parliamentarian rejected
the original immigration provisions in the bill, Democrats introduced Plan
B, which proposed updating the registry date to 2010.
Unfortunately, that proposal was ultimately rejected by the parliamentarian
as well, leaving the registry frozen at 1972.
So what does this new registry bill say and which immigrants
will be able to adjust their status as a result?
The new bill proposed last week creates a rolling registry, which means
instead of updating the registry date every few decades, it will allow anyone
who has been present in the United States for seven years to adjust their status.
According to USCIS, some of the other qualifications include continuously
residing in the United States since entry, being physically inside the U.S.
when applying, being of good moral character, admissible to the U.S.
or eligible for a waiver of inadmissibility
or other form of relief, not deportable on terrorist
related grounds, and merit the favorable exercise of discretion.
There is no medical test, no financial affidavit of support, and no U.S.
petitioner required for registry applicants to succeed.
If passed this year, it is estimated that as many as 8.5
million immigrants would qualify, including millions of dreamers,
essential workers, TPS holders and backlogged green card applicants.
In order to apply, registry candidates would submit
the following to USCIS: application to register permanent residence
or adjust status or form I-485, two passport-style photos,
a copy of a government issued identity documents with photograph,
a copy of your birth certificate, evidence of entry into the U.S.
more than seven years prior, evidence of continuous physical presence
in the United States since entry, and certified police and court
records of criminal charges, arrests or convictions, if you have any.
So what is the likelihood of the renewing immigration
provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929 passing Congress?
If the bill in the House of Representatives passes,
it will face a 60 vote threshold in the Senate due to the filibuster.
The chances of that happening are slim, but not impossible.
Similar to the Farm Workforce Modernization Act—which has the most
bipartisan support of any immigration reform bill currently in Congress—changes
to the registry date
have historically had bipartisan support, and as we've discussed in some of
my recent videos, Republican lawmakers have been showing increasing acceptance
of immigration measures as a shrinking workforce threatens the economy.
Undocumented workers covered by the bill already contribute
approximately $126 billion to the U.S.
economy each year, and it is estimated they would contribute
an additional $83 billion if they became U.S.
citizens. What do you think?
Will this bill pass the House? Will it make it through the Senate?
Leave me a comment and let me know.
And if you want to hear more about how the upcoming midterms
could potentially affect immigration reform, this year,
all include a link to that video here.
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