Biden allies in Congress expected to introduce immigration reform bill this week
President Biden's allies on Capitol Hill are expected to introduce an immigration reform bill later this week, in what could be Democrat’s most ambitious attempt to overhaul the hardline border policies of the Trump administration. Multiple sources tell ABC News the bill is expected to be introduced on Thursday.
While it’s unclear exactly what the legislation will include, it is expected to mirror many of the immigration priorities Biden laid out on day one of his administration – including a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants and prioritizing keeping families together by eliminating visa backlogs.
Past attempts to overhaul the U.S. immigration system have failed under both parties. The Biden administration has signaled it may have better luck by splitting up the legislation – rather than putting everything in one giant reform package. But ABC News has learned Democrats spearheading this effort on Capitol Hill are, for now, committed to one major legislative push. One Democratic aide insisted no conversations about splitting the package up are occurring.
Biden has already taken sweeping executive action aimed at undoing some of former President Trump’s hallmark initiatives on immigration – from halting construction of the southern border wall to reversing the Trump administration plans to exclude undocumented immigrants from the Census count. He has been able to make these changes since Trump enacted many of these policies through a series of executive actions, as opposed to legislation.
-ABC News' Cecilia Vega, Ben Gittleson, Molly Nagle, Quinn Owen, Benjamin Siegel and Sarah Kolinovsky