The House approved to bills to address immigration issues, approving one that would provide a path to citizenship for around 2.5 million undocumented immigrants, including those referred to as “Dreamers” (came to U.S. before the age of 19 before January 1, 2021), on a vote of 228 to 197. Nine Republicans voted in favor of the bill.
A second measure won passage 247 to 174 and would provide a path to citizenship for farmworkers in the country illegally and their family members, with 30 Republicans voting for the bill. The farm worker measure was approved by the House in 2019 but was not acted on by the Senate.
The Farm Workforce Modernization Act provides for some agricultural workers in the country illegally to receive a temporary legal status if they have worked at least 180 days in the last two years. The bill would also modernize the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program, making year-round H-2A visas available for the first time. But the outlook remains uncertain as the measures face steep odds in the evenly divided Senate. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., noted that Democrats control the White House and Senate.
"With a Democratic majority in the Senate and President Biden in the White House, when we pass it again it is with better assurance that it will become law,” Pelosi said. But Republicans are becoming increasingly opposed to any new immigration measure, a situation accented by the worsening situation at the U.S. southern border.
The U.S. is on pace to see the largest number of migrants crossing into the country illegally in two decades, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Tuesday.