Is this really happening?
A group of House Democrats is trying to get a century-old registry updated in order to allow millions of illegal immigrants who are already in the U.S. a legal pathway to gaining citizenship. If the registry is updated then the statuses of these immigrants will also be able to be changed.
The Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929 bill was introduced by six Democrats this week and would require an update to the status adjustment process. This would result in immigrants who illegally entered the country before a certain date having their status in the country regulated.
The last time the registry was updated was in 1986, with that update illegal immigrants who had entered the country prior to 1972 could have their status adjusted and could get a green card. This cleared the pathway for them to eventually apply for U.S. citizenship.
The bill was introduced by Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Norma Torres, D-Calif., Lou Correa, D-Calif., Grace Meng, D-NY, Adriano Espaillat, D-NY, and Jesús “Chuy” García, D-Ill., who have claimed that 8 million immigrants would be affected by this bill.
In their press release, they also noted that 148 local, regional, and national organizations supported the introduction of the bill.
Lofgren, the bill’s lead sponsor, in her recent statement criticized Republicans for using the border as an opportunity for “political stunts.” She added that instead of such stunts their groups of Democrats were focused on immigration action that could update the law that was originally introduced in 1929.