US President Biden’s immigration bill suffered a new setback on Wednesday. The arbiter of Senate rules said that the Democrats’ alternative plan to provide naturalization for millions of illegal immigrants in the country cannot be included in the US$3.5 trillion budget plan being considered by Congress.
Democrats have always hoped to use the broad climate and social policy packages they can pass with a simple majority to enact major immigration reforms without a Republican vote.
Their original plan was to allow approximately 8 million immigrants who entered the country illegally, including young immigrants known as “dream students,” to be eligible for green cards, but it was rejected by Senator Elizabeth MacDonough earlier this month. MacDonough notified Democrats on Wednesday that their latest efforts are also not allowed under Senate rules.