BIDEN'S BUILD BACK BETTER PLAN MUST HELP UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS | IMMIGRATION NEWS

Biden's Build Back Better plan must help undocumented immigrants.Show more

President Joe Biden’s sweeping, $2.2 trillion social and climate spending Build Back Better Act stalled in the Senate. The BBB would provide much-needed funding for caregiving for children and the elderly, combating climate change, making health care more affordable, and bringing down costs that would strengthen the middle class. As part of this last objective, the bill includes a provision making a small change to current immigration law.

Including the immigration provision in the bill has been a rollercoaster, as is everything immigration related. Democrats have been going back and forth on whether to include a pathway to citizenship or reduce the relief down to something known as immigration parole. The U.S. Senate parliamentarian has claimed immigration relief does not belong in a reconciliation bill; advocates have called for overruling the parliamentarian as she has shown she does not understand the economic benefit of immigration.

With West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin now declaring he won't support the Build Back Better Act at all, the conversation is stalled not only for immigrants, but for everyone else as well. Whether Manchin is serious or whether he is just looking for leverage to negotiate his version of the bill remains to be seen.

No matter what happens to BBB, whether a smaller bill is negotiated or whether legislation is passed piecemeal, a pathway to citizenship for long-term undocumented immigrants must be made a reality — no matter what it takes.

Long-term undocumented immigrants have been waiting for immigration relief for decades, while contributing billions of tax dollars at the federal, state and local level. The IRS estimates that undocumented immigrants pay over $9 billion or more annually in withheld payroll taxes alone, making Social Security more solvent by paying into the system, even though they cannot get benefits upon retiring — subsidizing everyone else's benefits. In addition to payroll taxes, undocumented immigrants pay sales tax, property tax and other kinds of taxes, an estimated $23.6 billion in state, federal and local taxes.

Permanent immigration relief is overdue. A pathway to citizenship could be offered through a very simple and minor change in an already existing program known as registry, which would allow long-term undocumented immigrants to register for legal permanent residency. Registry has existed since 1929 and the only change needed would be to change the required entry date, it is as simple as that. Whether included in the BBB or passed as a standalone bill, a pathway to citizenship is an investment in the right direction.

Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has said that "The change in status to LPR lawful permanent residency remains a life-long change in circumstances the value of which vastly outweighs its budgetary impact."

The truth is, every policy in the Build Back Better Act would mean a lifelong change in circumstances to Americans, the value of which also vastly outweighs budgetary impact. That is a good thing: What are taxes and the budget for, if not to improve the lives of taxpayers? The question is not about the value of the policy, but a question of will and a question of awareness. Do politicians have the will, the backbone, to fight for long-term undocumented immigrants? Do politicians have the awareness of our multibillion-dollar budget impact? Do they value our impact, or do they think giving permanent residency is a form of charity or a handout?

The time to fight for permanent immigration relief is now. The time to override the parliamentarian, if needed, and push for registry is now. The time to call our senators and ask that they do the right thing is now. The time to pass a pathway to citizenship, no matter what it takes, is now.

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