HANA Center and Undocumented Community Members Respond to the Parliamentarian’s Third Recommendation: “This Changes Nothing. Vice President Harris, Disregard the Parliamentarian!”
Chicago, IL — On December 16, Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough again recommended excluding any sort of immigration relief from the budget. This is the third time she has advised against immigration; first for any permanent solutions, and twice now for temporary and hollowed-out provisions. As The Hill wrote previously, the parliamentarian has, since the beginning, “made it abundantly clear how eager she was to get to ‘no,’ despite ample precedent and a strong rationale that would allow for the immigration proposal to be included in a reconciliation bill.”
HANA Center’s impacted community members (those without citizenship) released the following statement in response:
HANA Center Community Organizer and impacted community member, Glo Choi: “Our people need nothing less than a pathway to citizenship. Immigrant communities have fought for too long, and we are too close now for an unelected official’s words to dictate whether or not we can finally get permanent relief. As a daughter of immigrants, Vice President Harris must be a bold leader for immigrant communities, disregard the parliamentarian’s arbitrary advice, and ensure a pathway to citizenship is included in the federal budget package. The future of my family and millions of others in this country depends on it.”
HANA Center Suburban Organizer and impacted community member, Hwangchan Yu: “I know from personal experience that temporary measures aren’t enough for immigrants to live full, safe, and healthy lives that all people deserve. Democrats have stated their support for a pathway to citizenship and have the supermajority in Congress necessary to accomplish this. It is imperative that they pass the Build Back Better package with citizenship, because we can’t rebuild without fully supporting all the people who were essential in sustaining our well-being.”
Jennifer Díaz-Camargo, HANA Center FYSH (Fighting Youth Shouting out for Humanity) impacted youth leader: “Imagine a world where we don’t have to worry about why our parents, our loved ones, aren’t answering their phone and haven’t gotten home yet. Where we don’t ask ourselves, ‘What if they were stopped by the cops or ICE officers?’ Where we feel free of all this unnecessary weight. Where we don’t have to walk out of school and rally together to raise our voices, trying over and over to get Congress’ attention about supporting citizenship for all. We can take a big step closer to that kind of world if elected officials like Senator Durbin follow through on their commitments to passing a pathway to citizenship.”
Senators Schumer, Durbin, Menendez, Cortez Masto, Luján, and Padilla released a joint statement on the Parliamentarian’s opinion, stating: “We strongly disagree with the Senate parliamentarian’s interpretation of our immigration proposal, and we will pursue every means to achieve a path to citizenship in the Build Back Better Act.” HANA Center and our impacted community members and allies plan to ensure the Senators keep this promise, and deliver a true pathway to citizenship this year by disregarding the parliamentarian and including registry in BBB.
Background: Current immigration law contains a provision called “registry” that allows certain immigrants who are long-term residents of the United States and who are undocumented or under a temporary immigration status to “register” for Lawful Permanent Resident status. The last time the registry date was updated was in 1986, for certain immigrants who arrived prior to January 1, 1972. The most recent proposal is a temporary program known as parole-in-place. While it can provide some protection for some immigrants until 2031, it remains a temporary program that excludes many. The Vice President of the United States is also the Presiding Officer of the Senate, and in that role holds ultimate decision-making authority. Vice President Harris can disregard the parliamentarian’s advice, uphold the will of 79% of Americans, and ensure a pathway to citizenship is created for millions of people.
To learn more about how the Senate and Vice President, as Presiding Officer of the Senate, can pass a pathway to citizenship this year, visit www.disregardtheparl.org.