“My motto is, do something,” said Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.). “Whatever we do, we cannot leave empty-handed.”
Like many other Democrats committed to immigration reform, Gomez has not publicly closed the door on big business, hoping to give Biden’s team a chance: “Does this mean a big immigration reform package? It might be. Does this mean using budget reconciliation? Possibly. Or does it mean individual accounts? It could be.”
But veteran Democrats say they learned from the party’s huge immigration disappointment in 2009, the last time it held all levers of power. Representative Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) said he remembered then President Barack Obama telling Hispanic Congress Caucus about his reform plans in April of that year. The Blue Dog Democrat then leaned over to a colleague and whispered, “This is not going to happen.”
And he warned that the same thing could happen to Biden.
“The bottom line is that even when we had a supermajority in a better position than we are now, we don’t approve of anything,” said Cuellar. “I’m not saying it at all, I’m just saying it would be very difficult.”
The division on how to reshape the country’s failed immigration system is a well-known Washington tripod. But the issue of taking a fragmented approach or taking a major turn has a new urgency with Democrats in charge of Congress and the White House.
Democrats insist they are looking for a two-pronged approach, with Senator Bob Menendez (DN.J.) and Congresswoman Linda Sánchez (D-California) launching a full effort for Biden’s comprehensive project, while the leadership presents more restricted proposals for the hour from the ground, probably in March.
Brian Deese, director of the White House National Economic Council, and Jeff Zients, coordinator of the Biden coronavirus, will meet with the CHC next week. Several Democrats said in particular that they are waiting for Biden to publicly signal that he is open to a more step-by-step path – something that people close to him have express opening for, but the president and White House officials have not yet said so openly.
April 1 approaches the calendar, as Democrats face increasing pressure from immigration activists to set at least some of the top priorities. To skip another round of lengthy hearings, the party has to bring up the immigration-related bills that were passed last year – such as protections for Dreamers or a modernization project for rural workers – by then.
“I think there is some unity around the idea” of a fragmented strategy, said Caucus Progressive Congress President Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Adding that he would also press “very, very strongly” for Biden’s broader plan and his allies plan to launch next week.
Jayapal, who started his career in politics as an immigration activist, said that Democrats want to pursue a larger proposal while following a “parallel path” to bringing previously approved minor bills to the floor.
That complicated policy has already begun to manifest itself on Hill, as Democrats are working to finalize their massive $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill. The debate rages behind the scenes: whether undocumented immigrants paying taxes should be eligible for the $ 1,400 stimulus checks of the measure.
Leading Democrats spent several days convincing CHC members, led by Gomez, not to offer an amendment to the issue during the draft review this week – a vote that would have been deeply uncomfortable for party centrists.
The California Democrat finally decided not to force the vote and later said in an interview: “It was something we couldn’t reach an agreement on.” Gomez added that he hopes to find a place for the measure in future packages and to get support for it from his colleagues.
“Latinos in my district, since November, have seen a 1,000 percent increase in deaths because of Covid,” said Gomez. “And I believe that because these people are paying taxes, they deserve to receive some of those benefits.”
A similar non-binding amendment vote in the Senate last week also showed how sharp the divisions are, with eight democrats breaking ranks to support a Republican Party amendment that would have banned undocumented migrants from receiving checks.
Democrats have taken a small step to expand access to payment since last year. They negotiated a new clause in the massive December relief bill to fix a flaw that prevented US citizens from receiving stimulus checks if someone in their home had no documents. And in Covid’s package going through the committee this week, Democrats expanded the family’s eligibility pool to receive checks to include all children who are U.S. citizens, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
“The reference is the social security number,” said a White House aide.
But friction with stimulus checks shows that, despite the shift to the left by party leaders on various issues since the Obama years, Democrats are still divided over how ambitious they can be in immigration.
Biden took office facing demands from immigration advocacy groups to pass legislation in its first 100 days, using this window to enact massive political changes before Congress’ productivity plummets as lawmakers turn to the next election cycle.
And those expectations sparked a frantic internal debate about the tactics and timing of Biden’s plans.
“We need to see what combination of bills can actually get those 60 votes,” said Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Referring to the threshold required for Senate approval. Chu said he expected Biden’s bill to get there, but acknowledged the steep climb and said “at least there are some alternatives, if that doesn’t happen”.
Chu and other members of the group working on the Biden plan, dubbed “The Closers”, will begin what she called “a total effort” in Hill next week, after releasing the text of the president’s immigration package.
Senior Democrats in the House highly doubt that they will be able to get 218 votes for a massive reform package and think the chances of passing the Senate 50-50 are close to zero. Still, they are keeping the hope of a miracle alive.
Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) Said lawmakers are haunted by the memories of the Obama administration, when Democrats lost the chance to force immigration reform. Aguilar, a member of the leadership, described the Biden White House as learning at least some lessons from the past.
“We are at a different moment in the sense that we have the government leaning heavily on this issue and moving in sync with us and being so aligned,” said Aguilar.