Pelosi says Democrats’ massive spending bill should include immigration reform

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday that a multibillion-dollar spending bill Democrats aim to pass without any Republican backing should also tackle immigration reform.

“I think immigration should be in reconciliation, part of that, in reconciliation,” Pelosi told reporters Friday at a press conference with Democratic House leaders. “We know we have a very good record for this to be included.”

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Democrats are pushing to include a pathway to citizenship for so-called Dreamer immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and who are protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Children program. arrivals of children (DACA), as well as for holders of temporary protection status (TPS). , essential workers and agricultural workers.

The provisions would be part of a roughly $ 3.5 trillion bill that Democrats are still negotiating. While the details of the legislation are still unclear, it is widely expected to invest billions in a range of planned health, education, environment and social programs as Democrats seek to use the procedural tool known as budget reconciliation to bypass a 60 Senate obstruction.

The measure would be paid for by higher taxes on wealthy Americans and businesses.

Pelosi’s comments on Friday followed a meeting between President Biden, Vice President Harris and Democratic lawmakers this week on next steps to pave the way for citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants living in the country.

Immigration reform has become a crucial part of reconciliation talks, with several Democrats threatening to withhold support for the spending bill unless it includes provisions on citizenship.

Senator Dick Durbin, the second-largest Democrat in the Senate, said after Thursday’s meeting that Biden had made it “unequivocal” that “he was with us” and supported the inclusion of an immigration proposal in the larger budget bill.

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“It went really well,” Biden said of the meeting.

Still, it is not clear whether the Senate parliamentarian, a non-partisan arbiter who determines what provisions can be included in a reconciliation package, would support the inclusion of immigration reform.

The provisions are subject to what is called “The Byrd rule, “which prevents the inclusion of” superfluous “provisions in the reconciliation so that only items affecting the federal budget can be included.