To finally fix immigration, Congress should help ‘Dreamers,’ then take up Biden plan

It’s counter-intuitive to think that there’s new life for immigration reform, given the deep partisan rancor on the issue and a Congress split almost evenly between Democrats and Republicans.

But President Joe Biden has made it a high priority, laying out an ambitious plan that would tackle many of the long-standing issues in the U.S. immigration system. It’s not perfect, but it’s a good starting point. And perhaps no state has more at stake than Texas, with an estimated 1.6 million people who are in the country illegally, the biggest segment of the U.S. southern border and an economy intertwined with illegal immigration.

The highlights from Biden’s list of proposals are familiar: an eight-year “path to citizenship” for those who were in the country illegally as of Jan. 1; protection for those brought to the country as children; adding more immigration judges to clear a backlog of cases; and undoing several other policies inherited from the Trump administration.

These are essentially the provisions Congress has battled over for a decade and a half. Despite Biden’s request, lawmakers shouldn’t repeat the failure of trying to fix everything at once. Massive legislative packages presented as a yes-or-no option reduce the lawmaking process to backroom negotiations among the few, and a handful of members with little investment in the process can endanger the whole thing.

START WITH THE DREAMERS

For a fresh start, lawmakers should focus on relief for “Dreamers.” The vast majority of Americans and members of Congress agree that young people who have known only America as their home shouldn’t remain in legal limbo. We’re not going to send them to a country they’ve never known, but they’ve been held hostage to the political back and forth.

Fixing their legal status quickly, with a short path to citizenship after requisite background checks, would also end the unfortunate legal drama over former President Barack Obama’s executive action to protect them. Former President Donald Trump tried to overturn the order, known as DACA for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, only to be stymied by the Supreme Court on procedural grounds.

It was never appropriate for Obama to extend such a breathtaking power grab. And the hundreds of thousands of real families affected deserve a final answer. After all, the next administration seeking to overturn the order might be competent enough to follow the necessary procedure. Better that Congress finally step up, quit holding the dreamers hostage to a sweeping attempt to fix every nook and cranny of the immigration system.

Nor should Democrats seek to slip major immigration provisions into the next legislation addressing the coronavirus crisis, as some hope to do. Cynicism about Washington is fueled by huge legislation that sweeps up unrelated issues and attempts to drive them through without true debate. Any immigration bill must be forged in transparency and debated on its merits.

CITIZENSHIP, BORDER SECURITY

With DACA resolved, Congress can then begin the horsetrading that will be necessary to address the status of others in the country illegally. Republicans must give up any notion that the vast majority of the group, which could exceed 20 million people, won’t have a way to become citizens.

We can argue over how long it should take and what steps, including whether fines should be included, and care must be taken to weed out serious criminals. But hardworking people contributing to society, often through back-breaking work, deserve the full benefits of being Americans.

Similarly, Democrats will have to make real concessions to border security. One of the biggest concerns about granting legal status is that it will encourage more immigration; after all, the U.S. will have done it twice in 40 years, why not expect it again? With the obsession over a “big beautiful wall” no longer an issue, Democrats should acknowledge that on parts of the border, more barriers make sense. Republicans should embrace solutions based in technology and not the blunt instrument of a wall.

Between the pandemic, continuing turmoil in Central America and Democrats’ desire to reverse so many Trump immigration policies, it may be naive to think that progress can be made on such a divisive issue.

But the country needs a long-term immigration solution that establishes order in the system, serves the country’s economic need and embraces humanitarian needs. If they embrace targeted solutions with broad support and fair compromise on the rest, the new Congress and administration can finally take a step forward.