House Democrats Lay Out Their Party’s Immigration Policy Ideas

WASHINGTON—At an event hosted by the Center for American Progress (CAP) on Sept. 10, three Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives explained their party’s views on immigration policy.

The lawmakers—Reps. Veronica Escobar of Texas, Tom Suozzi of New York, and Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico—sat down with Neera Tanden, a former senior adviser to President Joe Biden and CAP’s president, to discuss the party’s progressive policy proposals on immigration. In the conversation, they discussed several consensus ideas that are gaining steam within their party to address illegal immigration, asylum and visa application backlogs, and border security.

Escobar said that the “DIGNITY Act,” a bill she has co-sponsored with Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), is the principal piece of current legislation that has attracted support from many Democratic members, as well as several Republicans. The key feature of that bill, she said, would be to grant a pathway to legalization, without U.S. citizenship, for non-criminal illegal immigrants presently in the United States.

“If they have been here for five years, and have not committed any crime, they would be eligible for what’s called ‘Dignity’ status, which would [entail] a work permit and exist for seven years and is renewable indefinitely,” Escobar said. “They would be able to travel everywhere … leave the country … and return,” she added, noting that the Act would “give them the ability to live with dignity in the U.S.”

Escobar said the bill compromised on certain progressive objectives, such as a pathway to citizenship, in order to solicit Republican interest.

“Is it something I would write if I had every Democratic vote in the House and the Senate? No,” Escobar said. “There are a number of Republicans who are waiting on a signal from the White House—waiting to see if [President] Donald Trump will support legislation.”

On border security, Suozzi said that his party was not interested in “open borders” and, instead, sought to focus removal efforts on violent criminals, without the removal of illegal immigrants who otherwise have no criminal record.

“People want the border secure. I want the border secure,” Suozzi said.

“We want to deport violent criminals. I’m for that. That’s good. We want a whole-of-government approach … to combat the cartels,” he added of the Trump administration’s current border and immigration policies.

To disincentivize illegal entry across the U.S. border by Central American immigrants, Suozzi said the party supported asylum processing centers in foreign countries, where these migrants could apply for consideration. He acknowledged that upward of “80 percent” of applications would be rejected.

“Let’s not have asylum applications in between the ports of entry. Let’s create foreign and remote, FAR, application centers so you can apply for asylum [outside the U.S.] … in places that are safe to do so,” he said.

“The prize is to beat the cartels,” he added, saying the criminal networks were overwhelming the asylum system with applicants in order to distract the U.S. Border Patrol from other vigilance, such as against their smuggling of illegal drugs.

All three Democrats said they opposed the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and federal law enforcement to remove all illegal immigrants from the country. They encouraged protesters and activists to capture videos and photographs of such instances.

Trump and Republicans have previously stated that the focus of removal operations is aliens with criminal records, though others in the administration have said that every foreign national who is unlawfully present in the country will be targeted for removal. 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a) makes illegal entry into the United States between ports of entry a criminal misdemeanor for a first offense, and then a felony for subsequent offenses.

“People need to see this, and I think that’s what’s creating a shift in his poll numbers,” Escobar said.

According to Gallup, Trump’s approval rating is currently 40 percent, and is a decline from the outset of the year.