House leadership to keep path to citizenship out of Covid relief package

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not plan to include a pathway to citizenship for undocumented essential workers, Dreamers and Temporary Protected Status recipients as part of an upcoming coronavirus relief package, despite calls from Democrats and immigrant advocates to do so.

“President Biden proposed comprehensive immigration reform, which includes protections for frontline immigrant workers, separate from his Covid relief plan, and we expect that to therefore have separate consideration,” a House Democratic leadership aide told POLITICO on Monday afternoon.

House leadership’s plan to keep a pathway to citizenship for undocumented essential workers on a separate track from its massive coronavirus relief package is a blow for Democrats and immigrant advocates looking for immediate opportunities to move reform forward quickly.

A group of 100 lawmakers, led by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, on Saturday urged House leadership to include the path to citizenship, which would apply to about 5 million undocumented immigrants who are essential workers. More than 500 national, state and local organizations — including the Center for American Progress, Immigration Hub and Human Rights Campaign — last month urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Pelosi to do the same.

Democrats are moving forward with President Joe Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill that could require they use reconciliation to advance it in the Senate without GOP support. On Monday, Pelosi and Schumer filed a joint budget resolution that starts the process that would allow Congress to pass the relief package with a simple majority.

Republicans have already been critical of the size of Democrats’ proposed package and some have argued that the inclusion of a pathway to citizenship would be a show of Democrats dropping in unrelated and unnecessary items into the relief bill. On Monday, Biden met with a group of Senate Republicans who were offering their own smaller plan.

Democrats in the House and Senate have not yet formally introduced bills with Biden’s comprehensive immigration reform plan. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) are taking the lead in preparing the bill for introduction in their respective chambers. But getting a big bill through Congress is widely expected to be a difficult task given the 50-50 split in the Senate — meaning at least 10 Republicans would have to support the legislation.

The Biden administration has said passing a comprehensive immigration reform bill is a top priority. But Biden officials and Democrats on Capitol Hill recognize that the main objective is progress , so they’ve expressed willingness to support moving parts of reform through Congress in a piecemeal way at the same time that they push a big bill. However, the White House has not weighed in on including legal status into the already massive coronavirus relief package.