The citizenship hopes of 1.8 million immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children hung in the balance on Monday as Congress started up debate on sweeping new immigration legislation. In offering a path to citizenship for the so-called Dreamers, President Donald Trump has exceeded the demands of opposition Democrats — but only in exchange for tough cutbacks on overall immigration and funding for a massive wall on the Mexican border. His proposal will be front and centre as senators from both sides of the aisle begin an unpredictable process that could yield a long-sought breakthrough on immigration, or end in failure, with hundreds of thousands of immigrants at risk of losing their legal protections beginning on March 5.
“It’s a real debate on an issue where we really don’t know what the outcome is going to be,” Republican Senator Jeff Flake told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday. A group of conservative senators was to introduce a bill on Monday that closely follows Trump’s January proposals. The Secure and Succeed Act offers a 10-12 year path to citizenship for the 1.8 million Dreamers. But it will also end the popular “Green Card lottery,” a 28-year-old programme to diversify immigrant arrivals, and sharply limit family-based immigration. In addition, it will allocate $25 billion for tougher immigration enforcement including the construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border that Trump promised during his 2016 election campaign. “This is the only bill that has a chance of becoming law, and that’s because it’s the only bill that will truly solve the underlying problem,” said Senator Tom Cotton, a lead sponsor of the legislation. — Reuters
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
