Now that the Senate is back from their holiday break, are Democrats
making progress on Biden's build back better bill?
While Democratic leaders have said they are continuing conversations
behind the scenes, Senator Manchin told reporters on Wednesday
that he has not had any additional conversations
and his position on the bill has not changed.
Stay tuned because we are going to take a closer
look at where the build back better bill stands and the potential
for meaningful immigration reform in 2022.
And if this is your first time on my channel, please be sure to subscribe
and turn on notifications for regular immigration news updates.
Let's start with where we are
currently at with the build back better bill and immigration.
On this channel, we have been following efforts to pass the build back
better bill, which originally included immigration provisions
to provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of individuals,
as well as legal immigration provisions to recapture
unused visas and remove per-country caps when issuing them.
In its most recent version, known as Plan C,
the pathway to citizenship was watered down to include
only a narrow range of undocumented individuals
in an attempt to gain approval from the Senate parliamentarian.
But right before the holiday break, hopes
for seeing these provisions pass were crushed when Senator Manchin
came out against the bill and the parliamentarian rejected Plan C.
Now, Senate Democrats are facing growing calls by immigration advocates
to override the parliamentarian and include the provisions anyway.
In order to do that, they would need all 50 Democrats in favor,
and several senators have indicated they are against this option.
So it seems unlikely.
So with conversations stalled, where does that leave us
with hopes of passing any sort of immigration reform?
The president and Democratic Party leaders have said they intend
to continue working towards a deal to pass the reconciliation bill,
but it does not appear they are going to make progress very fast.
Partly because Senate Democrats
are going to shift their focus to voting rights legislation in January.
It will also take time to renegotiate the bill
so that Senator Manchin will consider voting for it.
When he talked to reporters this week, he reiterated that his position against
the bill had not changed and that negotiations are not currently
taking place.
I'm really not going to talk about build back better anymore
because I think I've been very clear on that.
There is no negotiations going on at this time, OK?
Some immigration advocates are pushing to craft language
for an even further watered down Plan D to include in these negotiations.
But others interpret the parliamentarian's latest
ruling as a rejection of all immigration efforts in the spending bill.
With doubts about the ability to pass meaningful immigration reform
through the budget reconciliation bill, some are encouraging
Congress to put green card recapture in a standalone bill.
While this wouldn't be the immigration reform we've all been hoping for, it could
at least help thousands of immigrants stuck waiting in the visa backlog.
An editorial in the Houston Chronicle pointed out
that green card recapture has historically attracted Republican votes.
John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, recently indicated
he would support a standalone bill, and Thom Tillis, a North Carolina
Republican, introduced a bill in September to recapture unused visas
from 2020 through 2021.
What do you think?
Will President Biden and Democrats have any success
with immigration in the build back better bill?
Could a bipartisan immigration bill happen in 2022?
Leave me a comment and let me know.
And I know I don't always get to respond, but believe me,
I read your questions and comments.
And if you want to hear about the recent immigration update from USCIS
on the visa backlog, I will include a link to that video here.
I will also continue bringing you additional immigration news
as it's available, so be sure to subscribe
and turn on the notifications if you have not yet already done so.
Click here to watch this video next and I'll see you there!