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While a pathway to citizenship was nixed in the most recent version of the Build Back Better Act, a flagship legislation part of President Joe Bidens agenda, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and immigration advocates still welcome the protections from deportation expected to impact about 6.5 million undocumented immigrants.

Under the House version of the spending bill, Democrats included the third iteration of an immigration plan in the Build Back Better Act. A previous version of the legislation included a pathway to citizenship for certain undocumented immigrants, such as people brought to the country as children, essential workers, farmworkers and those with Temporary Protected Status. That provision was removed from the bill following a ruling by the Senates parliamentarian.

During a press conference on Monday, Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., who chairs the 38-member caucus, explained that legislators instead proposed a parole program which would provide temporary protections of deportation, a five-year work permit and drivers license to eligible undocumented immigrants who pass a background check.

The drivers license would be available in states like Arizona that currently dont issue them to undocumented residents. The drivers licenses will be required to meet federal requirements for identification in domestic airports, allowing immigrants to travel by air without fear of encountering federal immigration enforcement.

The version of the immigration plan in the budget legislation that passed the House applies to people living in the U.S. with no immigration status who arrived in the country before Jan. 1, 2011. They must also meet certain criteria related to criminal record, similar to the current requirements for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, said attorney Ray Ybarra Maldonado in an explainer video posted on Facebook.

For months, immigration advocates have pushed federal lawmakers to pass citizenship for millions within the budget reconciliation process this year.

Juliana Macedo do Nascimento, of United We Dream, an organization that advocates for immigration reform, said groups will continue pressuring the Senate.

This is far from the relief that our immigrant communities deserve, its not what they promised us but we know it will be life-changing. The fight is not over. (Democrats) can still deliver on their promise of a pathway to citizenship, she said.

Ruiz said the version of the bill that the House approved last week will cut the costs of child care, health care and housing for most Americans. The universally subsidized preschool and the expanded child tax credit will help Americans who are still bearing the brunt of the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, he said.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who also spoke in the press call, explained the plan will be entirely paid for by tax increases on high income earners and corporations. He said the plan is intended to benefit people like his parents, families like his.

My dad worked picking crops and in construction of roads, my mom in hospital offices. They never earned a lot, but they worked a lot, Becerra said. We are investing in them, in those families that want to give much more.

United We Dream explained that undocumented children will also be able to use their Individual Taxpayer Identification Number to apply for the expanded child tax credit under Build Back Better. Immigrants with no authorization to work in the U.S. use ITIN to file taxes with the Internal Revenue Service. Currently, a Social Security number is needed to be eligible for the payment, which under BBB would be of $250 or $300 monthly, depending on the age of the child.

Ruiz urged the Senate to keep immigration provisions that will create a parole program for millions of undocumented immigrants, and expand the plan to provide a pathway to citizenship.

The legislation faces a tough and lengthy path and some likely changes in the evenly divided Senate, where Democrats will need every vote in their caucus for the measure to reach Bidens desk.

The Senate will use a legislative procedure known as budget reconciliation, which allows Democrats to bypass the 60-vote threshold needed to break a Republican filibuster.

During a Friday press conference with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in Phoenix, Democratic U.S. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly didnt commit to supporting the Build Back Better Act as passed in the House, but said theyll continue negotiating on the plan.

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In lieu of path to citizenship, advocates cheer immigration reforms in spending bill - Arizona Mirror

Immigration activists and the families of undocumented workers showed up in Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee outside the offices of Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Congresswoman Gwen Moore. Their message, aimed to keep the pressure on Democrats to provide a pathway to citizenship in the Build Back Better plan that passed the House and now moves to the Senate, was, No Thanksgiving without immigrants, citizenship for my parents.

Christine Nuemann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera in Milwaukee, said some progress had been made. The current version of the Build Back Better plan includes work permits for 7 million undocumented workers. For us that does represent progress for the movement, said Nuemann-Ortiz, standing outside Moores office in Milwaukee with a group of undocumented workers and their families. But of course, we are going to continue to call on Democrats in the Senate to use the power that they have to not just pass immigration reform with work permits, but to pass citizenship. Nevertheless she called the immigration provisions in the current bill a demonstration that everything that were doing is making a difference. And we have to keep at it.

In late October, Voces held a demonstration outside of Sen. Tammy Baldwins office in Milwaukee to demand that immigration reforms not be dropped from the Build Back Better plan. And while providing work permits will help ease pressure on some undocumented essential workers, advocates say the permits are not enough. Ultimately, they want a clear pathway to citizenship undocumented workers, many of whom worked in frontline industries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One young participant, 19-year-old Leslie Flores, said, We need Senator Baldwin and Democrats to fulfill their promises. As children of undocumented immigrants, we have to keep fighting for a better future for our families and stop living in fear.

The Thanksgiving demonstration also served as a reminder that the early American settlers themselves were immigrants, and were hosted by indigenous peoples of North America. The United States of America has been sustained by immigration, Maria Mota, an older Latina woman who joined those gathered outside of Moores office, pointed out. Mota addressed the crowd through a loudspeaker in Spanish, with her words translated by Nuemann-Ortiz.

Ive been waiting to adjust my status for 22 years, said Mota, my father was able to adjust his status back in the 1980s. And we are here to remind our government that this Thanksgiving, it was the Native American Indians that received the Europeans who came as immigrants to this country. And put food on the table. Molta stressed today immigrants have, continued to put food on the table. Were not asking for anything that we dont deserve, and we ask for our humanity to be recognized. Were going to keep fighting, were not going to stop.

Cassandra Casas, who was born and raised in Milwaukee but whose parents are undocumented, recalled the day in 2012 when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers came knocking on the door looking for her mother. From the moment my mother left, my world turned upside down, said Casas, who has suffered from severe mental health problems ever since her mothers deportation. It has been years since her family has been united.

A 7-year-old boy named Angel wrote a brief letter to Moore. I do not want families to be separated, it read, without a father or mother, there is no family. Citizenship for all! Another young person, 11-year-old Giovanni Martinez from Manitowoc, had experienced a similar trauma. Martinezs father was deported in 2012, the same year ICE came looking for Casas mother. It has been nine years since I got to celebrate Thanksgiving with my dad, said Martinez. Now is the time to pass citizenship so other kids dont have to suffer like me.

Although the Senate Parliamentarian is expected to offer a positive advisory opinion on providing temporary work permits through Build Back Better, advocates and immigrant families say they need more. Although 7.1 million work permits would be covered by the provision, the undocumented working population in the United States is estimated to be around 11 million. In early October, a poll conducted by Global Strategy Group, found that 71% of voters surveyed supported a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. That included 88% of Democrats, 75% of independents, and 53% of Republicans. The poll was conducted in eight battleground states. Additionally, the poll found that two in three battleground state voters would be upset if immigration citizenship proposals didnt pass.

Sergio Gonzales, executive director of the Immigration Hub, a team of former congressional staff, executive branch officials and immigration policy advocates, said the poll shows that immigration reform is popular with all voters. Despite the Republican noise and dog whistles around immigration and the border, voters again and again continue to support fixing our immigration system by centering protections for undocumented immigrants and humane solutions to manage our border and migration, said Gonzales. Theres a clear opportunity through reconciliation for Democrats to win the debate on immigration, gain votes and fulfill the promise they made to immigrant families long ago. Theres a powerful electorate of people of color and multi-generations that held their end of the bargain last year, and now Democrats have the chance to secure future victories by finally delivering on one of the most critical issues of our time. That is it, and the moment is here.

The Build Back Better bill that passed the U.S. House last week failed to include a pathway to citizenship for 11 million immigrant essential workers, Dreamers and Temporary Protected Status holders. Instead, it contained only temporary work permits for an estimated 7.1 million immigrant workers and their families, the majority of whom have lived and worked in this country for more than a decade. A major struggle lies ahead in the coming month in the U.S. Senate, where Democrats cannot lose any votes within their party if they are to send the measure to Bidens desk.

Any changes made in the Senate will mean the bill must return to the House for another vote before it could be signed into law

We must escalate pressure on President Biden and Senate Democrats to create a path to citizenship as the Senate takes up the Build Back Better bill, Neumann Ortiz said. Voces will be joining national days of action and lobbying in Washington DC on December 6th and 7th, and asks for people to contact Senator Baldwin to demand that she champion citizenship this year.

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'No Thanksgiving without immigrants' - Wisconsin Examiner

Happy Monday morning.

This is one of those days when we regret starting with bad news.

From the tragedy at the Waukesha Christmas parade to the addition of the United States to the list of backsliding democracies for the first time, heres the news you need to know to start your week.

A driver plowed a vehicle into a crowd at a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, killing five people and injuring more than 40 adults and children. As reported by The Guardian, a red SUV plowed into the crowd at high speed on Sunday afternoon, and authorities are still hesitating to label the incident an act of terrorism.

The welfare spending bill passed the House of Representatives on Friday on a 220-213 vote includes the most comprehensive immigration reform package overhauled by Congress in 35 years, The Hill reported.

If the Senate approved the provision, the immigration measure in the bill would allow undocumented immigrants present in the U.S. from before 2011 up to 10 years of work authorization, falling short of the initial goal of offering them a path to citizenship.

Cuban artistic dissident leader Yunior Garcia left the island after the government blocked the massive artists protest.

As reported by NBC News, the young Cuban playwright announced on Facebook that he and his wife had arrived in Spain alive and well and with their ideas intact.

In recent weeks, Garcia had become the most prominent figure calling for protests to demand greater freedoms from the communist-ruled island. The government largely suppressed protests due to take place last Monday.

Garcia attempted to march alone on Sunday but was prevented from leaving his apartment after police and government supporters surrounded his building. When he tried to communicate with journalists and others by holding a white rose through his window and holding up a sign that read my house is blocked, people on the roof dropped a large Cuban flag to cover his window.

A group of Cuban musicians, including one imprisoned in Cuba, won song of the year at the Latin Grammy Awards on Thursday for their track Patria y Vida, garnering more international attention for a song that has become an anthem for the Cuban opposition.

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai had disappeared from the public eye for more than two weeks after accusing former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli on social media of coercing her into having sex at his home. The accusation triggered widespread censorship in China. Since Friday night, a steady stream of photos and videos purporting to show a smiling Peng going about her life in Beijing has appeared on Twitter, all posted by people working for Chinese government-controlled media and the state-run sports system, on a blocked platform in China.

The apparent propaganda push was followed Sunday by a video call between Peng and International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach, during which the three-time Olympian insisted she is safe and well, living at her home in Beijing and would like to have her privacy respected, according to a statement from the IOC.

Venezuelas ruling socialist party claimed a sweeping victory Sunday night in the first election that included the countrys main opposition parties in nearly four years, a low-turnout vote that critics say was rigged from the start.

As reported by the Washington Post, President Nicolas Maduros political allies won 20 of the countrys 23 governorships, according to preliminary results from the electoral council. With a turnout of just 41.8%, one of the lowest rates in the country in the last two decades, the vote reflected an electorate apathetic towards its leadership options in the crumbling socialist state.

The thinktank International IDEA announced over the weekend that the United States had been included for the first time on an annual list of shrinking democracies, noting a visible deterioration that began in 2019.

Alexander Hudson, a co-author of the report, told The Guardian, The United States is a high-performing democracy, and even improved its performance in indicators of impartial administration (corruption and predictable enforcement) in 2020. However, the declines in civil liberties and checks on government indicate that there are serious problems with the fundamentals of democracy.

The report says: A historic turning point came in 2020-21 when former president Donald Trump questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 election results in the United States.

In addition, Hudson pointed to a decline in the quality of freedom of association and assembly during the summer of protests in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd.

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BELatinas Weekend Recap: Tragedy in Waukesha, Historic Immigration Reform, And More - BELatina

A pro-immigration demonstration on Martin Luther King Day. Two-thirds of Americans say they are concerned about how unaccompanied children and separated families are treated at the border. (NDLA / Creative Commons)

The U.S. lifted its international travel ban earlier this month, which means that many people are likely to be sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family from all over the world this holiday.Those delightful moments of re-connecting, played out in dining rooms all over the country will be brought to you in large part by the success of the COVID-19 vaccines.While we are far from seeing the end of this pandemic, we can once more, with care, gather with our loved ones to celebrate the special moments of our lives.

Id like to think that these gatherings will be both boisterous and gentle, free-flowing and forgiving, as we reinvent the ways we talk to each other across a crowded table.And because we are revisiting and rediscovering our old ways, it is a unique opportunity to change the focus and flow of many past conversations.In fact, this holiday could give us a chance to start over with a national conversation on immigration that is unifying, rather than polarizing.

Such a conversation starts with identifying shared values and employing active listening.I have foundthat many heated immigration conversations can be turned around by asking people about their own roots. What is their immigration story? What did their family experience?Do you know where they entered the U.S. or how they found a place to stay?These questions are valuable even if your friends and relatives are descended from enslaved peoples or are immigrants themselves, because all of us can get stuck in portraying new immigrants as somehow other or different from us. Probing our family origin stories creates the opportunity for noting similarities and asking questions, and sometimes providing answers on misinformation.

Many heated immigration conversations can be turned around by asking people about their own roots. What is their immigration story? What did their family experience?Do you know where they entered the U.S. or how they found a place to stay?

This is also an opportunity to bring our values as feminists to the table.The immigration system was designed with single, male immigrants in mind, during a time when men journeyed to the U.S. first and sent for their families after they had become establishedor in some cases, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, where men were prohibited from even bringing their families to the U.S.The contributions of women as heads of households and in many low-wage, but essential jobs, is often undervalued in the immigration debateand yet finding a path forward to improve the lives of all women in the U.S. must includea conversation about immigration.

Right now, there are several excellent opportunities for finding common ground on immigration matters.The U.S. evacuation of Afghan allies and other vulnerable Afghans that began in August of this year has prompted an amazing outpouring of support for refugees.America cares about those who are oppressed and threatened, and those who have suffered greatly.

Similarly, when asked about the plight of unaccompanied children and separated families, two-thirds of Americans say they are concerned about how these vulnerable groups are treated at the border. If you can reach agreement on these vital pointsthat Americans care about those who are vulnerable and in needyou have the basis for having a meaningful conversation about Americas response to the refugee crisis.And if your partners in conversation are confused by some of the myths often recounted about refugees, this excellent interview with refugee service providers offers thoughtful, value-driven responses as well as concise information on the worldwide refugee situation that can be a big help.

If you can reach agreement on these vital pointsthat Americans care about those who are vulnerable and in needyou have the basis for having a meaningful conversation about Americas response to the refugee crisis.

Similarly,the Build Back Better Act, despite its adoption along party lines, offers terrific tools for reframing the usual immigration debate.Because Build Back Better is not a comprehensive immigration reform billin fact, only about 15 of its 2500-plus pages covers immigrationit provides some context for understanding how improving our immigration system is interconnected with a much broader goal of creating more prosperity and a stronger safety net for all, particularly for women. These immigration provisions focus primarily on legal immigration, providing USCIS with more funds to process backlogs that delay legal immigrants from obtaining permanent status or reuniting with their families, increasing fees and surcharges to pay for other immigration needs, and the recapture of thousands of visas that were never used in past years.

It also allows immigrants who were eligible for or had received visas but were blocked from entering the U.S. because of the Muslim ban or pandemic restrictions to reapply for admission.These provisions are all about restoring fairness, increasing efficiency and cleaning up backlogs.

The capstone provision is more ambitious, creating a temporary work program for millions of undocumented immigrants in the country prior to 2011. The original text, which would have created a path to citizenship for this group, was determined by the Senate parliamentarian to be outside the scope of the budget reconciliation process. Thus, despite widespread support for a path to citizenship, Build Back Better is offering a more temporary solution, but it would eliminate the threat of deportation for millions, reduce the likelihood of employers undercutting wages or abusing workers, and recognize the incredible contributions unauthorized immigrants make to the country every day. In each of these ways, it also creates a more equitable system for everyone.

In essence, Build Back Better offers breathing room for the political process to come up with better solutions in the future. There is far more that must be done, including significant reforms to our immigration enforcement system, but Senate passage of theBuild Back Better Act, with its immigration provisions intact, would give the country a chance to start over.

And that is what we have this Thanksgiving.A chance to start new traditions,an opportunity to restore our values, and a space for new, more thoughtful conversations on the things that matter most.

If you found this articlehelpful,please consider supporting our independent reporting and truth-telling for as little as $5 per month.

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How to Have a Thanksgiving Conversation on Immigration That's Unifying, Not Polarizing - Ms. Magazine

Editorsnote: In November,The National Interestorganized a symposium on the confluence of demographics, migration, and climate change. We asked a variety of scholars the following question: Canmigrationbe a solution to the various demographic challenges facing many nations, or is it a challenge in its own right? How should states adapt to and/or mitigate the effects of changing demographics and influxes of migrants?" The following article is one of their responses:

In 1950, the median age of what are todays most developed regions was twenty-nine years. Many were experiencing postwar baby booms, including Japan, which captured the cover of Newsweek magazine with worries over mass starvation in the face of equally massive population growth. But such population dynamics were short-lived. By 2020, the median age of those regions was forty-two and, by the middle of the next decade, it will be forty-five. This steadily upward trajectory means that, with every passing year, developed states find themselves in uncharted territory, scrambling to develop a menu of viable policy options to either forestall aging itself or its economic effects. One of the proposed solutions is significantly more open borders. Many argue that aging states must bring in more immigrants or face dire consequences. Yet what such discussions tend to disregard is that sometimes states will choose the consequences.

One reason states and societies may be hesitant to increase immigrationor actively oppose itis that immigration often hastens shifts in ethnic composition. While 76percent of those U.S.-born identify as single-race white, only 45 percent of immigrants in 2019 did. Changes or perceived changes in ethnic composition affect political behavior as we saw with anti-immigrant voters tipping the Brexit vote. With a shrinking total population and the oldest median age in the worldforty-eight yearsthe Japanese have thus far decided that the social consequences of immigration outweigh the economic consequences of population aging. The exception is the immigration of care workers as the strains of old-age care are palpable for Japanese families. Immigrants number about 2percent of Japans population, and there are significant institutional barriers to immigrants settling permanently.

Some states are reticent about the ethnic consequences of immigration but find the economic benefits outweigh the social consequences. South Korea, which in recent years has held the world record for lowest fertility rate, has tried to entice ethnic Koreans living abroad to immigrate, similar to Russia. Korean policymakers have been liberalizing beyond ethnic Korean immigrants as one of several policies designed to counter aging.

Examples such as the immigration of care workers implicatea need to analyze the impact of aging on particular sectors. In the United States, construction workers are aging; 40 percent of these workers are between the ages of forty-five and sixty-four, and 65 percent of heavy equipment operators are over forty years old. Even with some productivity gains from automation, there will soon come a day when older construction workers will have to retire. Who will wield the tools for the ambitious infrastructure plans of the Biden administration? We need a broad view of what immigration can look like, one that includes temporary, legal pathways, but partisanship has frozen U.S. immigration reform for decades.

Another issue with immigration is the age and aging of immigrants themselves. Few children migrate, and fertility rates for immigrants quickly revert to that of the domestic-born population. Immigrants who stay eventually age. In 2019 (our last year for pre-Covid-19data), over three-quarters of immigrants to the United States were of prime working ageseighteen to sixty-four years old. Thats a net positive from a labor standpoint but also means that immigration wont directly counter Americas population aging.

With fewer workers by the year, immigration seems like a natural solution to a shrinking workforce, but it is no panacea. In fact, there is no panaceajust because a country is aging doesnt mean increasing immigration isa solution.

Jennifer D. Sciubba, author of 8 Billion and Counting: How Sex, Death, and Migration Shape Our World (W. W. Norton, 2022), is an associate professor at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.

Image: Reuters.

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Beyond Immigration: How Countries Contend With Aging Populations - The National Interest