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As [Senate Majority] Leader [Chuck] Schumer has said, he wants to move on both the bipartisan plan and the budget resolution during the upcoming July/August Senate session, a White House official said in an email. Our understanding is that the process could begin as early as the week of 7/19, given that committees are still finalizing legislative text for both the budget resolution and the bipartisan bill.

We of course support going forward as fast as possible, but it would be a mistake to think of July 19 as anything more than the opening of a window, the official added.

Terrell and Goff were updating Hill aides on the presidents speech outside Chicago later that day, one that would highlight the bipartisan deal. They also took questions about infrastructure and the upcoming budget reconciliation package, through which the party is expected to move components of President Joe Bidens American Families Plan.

The White House officials were also asked whether surface transportation earmarks or congressionally directed spending on member-designated projects would be included in the bipartisan bill. The administration deferred to committee chairs but did not take a position, according to multiple sources on the call.

Democratic staffers were also concerned the White House might be considering the sale of federal government property or assets as a way to pay for the bipartisan deal but White House aides said the sale of federal assets would not be an option, according to a source on the call.

The call was the latest indication that after months of negotiations, Democrats increasingly feel a sense of urgency to move an infrastructure package through Congress. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed that if there is a bipartisan bill to consider, it will happen before the Senate leaves for August recess.

The group of more than 20 senators that pieced together the framework for the infrastructure deal consisting of centrists in both parties is laboring to turn its proposal into legislative language over the current recess. They have split into specific sub-groups focused on pieces of policy like broadband or financing and are moving rapidly to turn that into legislative language.

The group of moderate senators are aiming to draft their legislative language by next week in preparation for floor action, according to sources in both parties, but that could be aspirational. Lawmakers are still trying to figure out how exactly to make their revenue sources, which include no new taxes, cover nearly $600 billion in new spending. Before breaking for July 4, senators settled on using infrastructure privatization and unused coronavirus aid and unspent unemployment benefits to help pay for the legislation.

Schumer plans to consider both the bipartisan bill and a budget resolution in July setting the stage for a massive party-line spending bill, which would likely wait until the fall for passage. The two spending bills are considered complementary by Democrats, one written by centrists in both parties for hard infrastructure, and the other a partisan spending package focusing on climate change, childcare and potentially other items like immigration reform, Medicare expansion and drug prices.

Senate Budget Committee Democrats are aiming to have both an overall spending number and the partys priorities for that massive bill laid out by early next week. That number must strike a balance between Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and his most moderate member, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.).

Sanders wants to spend as much as $6 trillion, a number thats run into some resistance from moderate Democrats, who prefer something closer to $2 trillion. That legislation would be paid for in part by raising taxes on corporations and capital gains for wealthy earners, and it could be Democrats best chance at making major policy gains with full control of Washington D.C.

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Democrats race to push bipartisan infrastructure bill through Senate - POLITICO

On this Independence Day, we will gather (finally!) with friends and family to celebrate our country and what it means to be American. But what that actually means continues to be the source of much debate.

Some who have pledged to make America great again desire to take the country back to a time before many nonwhite immigrants had arrived (and before African Americans, women and members of the LGBTQ community had gained any power or influence). Their definition of American is narrow, defensive and exclusive.

Weve been here before. Xenophobia our fear and hatred of foreigners is as American as apple pie. And across the centuries, self-proclaimed patriotic citizens have blamed immigrants for all that is wrong in America all that is un-American while proclaiming their version of America and American to be the truest.

In the 1850s, anti-immigrant activists formed a new political party devoted to curbing the rights and influence of Catholic immigrants and naturalized citizens. They called themselves the American Party and promoted a new definition of Americanness that named white Anglo-Saxon Protestant settlers as the true natives of the United States. Americans must rule America was one of their slogans. By the early 1900s, some of Americas most influential thinkers and politicians were increasingly defining Americanism through the lens of white supremacy.

In 1925, eugenicist Madison Grant reported that an influx of foreigners would submerge U.S.-born white Americans and rallied others to his cause with the cry America for the Americans. The Ku Klux Klan fanned fears, claiming to speak for all true Americans when it condemned the flood of foreigners entering the country and pushing the native-born aside. Those (white) immigrants who continued to be allowed into the United States were exhorted to fully assimilate, abandon any loyalty to former homelands and reject hyphenated identities, as former President Theodore Roosevelt urged in 1916.

A century later, Americans elected a new president, Donald Trump, who labeled Mexicans rapists and criminals, who pledged to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and who called for a complete and total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. He spent his term working to achieve these goals and more.

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. Chinese people and those assumed to be Chinese or Asian were blamed for the coronavirus, most notably by Trump. Thousands of Asian Americans have reported being yelled at, spit upon, harassed and physically attacked. Some have been killed.

In March 2020, the Trump administration began treating immigration as a public health threat, closing U.S. borders and drastically restricting immigration. The country became gripped by a second epidemic: one of fear, xenophobia and racism.

During the pandemic, the administration halted the entry of almost every type of immigrant seeking to settle here and imposed the most sweeping immigration restrictions in American history. As a presidential candidate, Joe Biden pledged to end the unrelenting assault on our values and our history as a nation of immigrants and instead implement a fair and humane immigration system. But the backlash has been fierce, and immigration reform efforts have stalled.

We are at an inflection point. After the departure of Trump, his xenophobia and racism continue to shape how we understand both immigration and what it means to be American. How do we challenge this worldview?

One way is to recognize that because xenophobia is an inextricable part of systemic racism in the U.S., it must be fought alongside racism. We need to examine and protest the unequal treatment of immigrants as part of this structure. We must counter the narratives that identify immigration as a threat with facts: COVID-19 is not the Chinese virus. Immigrants are essential workers, constituting 17% of the civilian labor force. About two-thirds of Americans say that immigrants strengthen the country.

Another way to change the immigration narrative is to focus on real people and real stories. Better yet, give immigrants the power and the means to tell their own stories themselves.

The Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota has done exactly this. The 375 stories weve collected through our interactive digital storytelling website, created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, will preserve for future generations what it means to be American.

For Arminda Rodriguez, becoming American meant sacrificing all that she knew and loved to help the next generation. She was an immigrant without papers when she gave birth to her daughter Rubi in Brownsville, Texas. Then came years of hard work supporting Rubi and her siblings. Now a college student in Texas, Rubi recognizes how much her mother gave up to give her a better life: Thanks to my mothers sacrifice, I was able to be raised in the United States and get an education here. I appreciate her more than ever.

Thiago Heilman came to the U.S. as a child from Brazil and felt fully American even as he lived in the shadows as an undocumented immigrant. After President Obama established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for people brought here as children, Heilman was finally able to get a work permit and is now a writer living and working in New York City.

It took a while, but my American dream is finally coming true, he says. Many things that natural-born citizens take for granted are finally happening to me. Im enjoying this freedom every day.

Oballa Oballas American story is about giving back to his adopted country. After he and his family survived a genocidal attack against their tribe in Ethiopia, they trekked on foot to South Sudan and waited for 10 years in a Kenyan refugee camp before they were finally admitted into the U.S. in 2013. Now hes a health unit coordinator and recently became the first Black elected official in his town, Austin, Minn., where Spam is made. His story, he believes, can give hope to refugees who think the American dream is dead. He insists that in America, if you come with a big dream, you can make your dream come true.

These immigrant stories show that we have more in common with one another than the divisive rhetoric about immigration would have us believe. We each want safety, freedom, opportunity. We want to honor our cultural heritage while also becoming American. Xenophobia is not just about immigrants. It is also about who has the power to define what it means to be American, who gets to enjoy the privileges of American citizenship and who does not.

If we learn anything from the converging public health, social, political and economic crises of 2020, it may be the knowledge that we can no longer function divided as we currently are. We are and always have been dependent upon one another. If we are to survive and thrive, we need to commit ourselves to building a future that is not about us versus them, but we.

Erika Lee is a professor of history and Asian American studies at the University of Minnesota. She is the author, most recently, of America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States.

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Second Opinion: What does it mean to be American? Ask an immigrant - Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In his continuing effort to sabotage all U.S. immigration and entry controls, Alejandro Mayorkas is not only in dereliction of his duty to the American people, but his actions are sending the Biden administration's approval ratings in a tailspin through the inept maladministration of his responsibilities as Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), according to the Washington-based Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

According to FAIR, it would be impossible to name one policy adopted since Mayorkas that increases the likelihood cartels will not operate, illegal immigration will be discouraged, or any alien in or out of the country will be encouraged to comply with the immigration law as Congress designed it.

"Mayorkas has been the biggest disaster for border security and immigration controls in the history of the country," says Dan Stein, President of FAIR. "He believes he can just use short cuts and games to twist and contort immigration law to suit a pre-conceived agenda. In doing so," says Stein, "he's made a mockery of our immigration laws and borders."

In particular, says FAIR, Mayorkas has:

"Mayorkas is imperiling the health and security of the American people precisely the antithesis of the mission of the department he leads, while at the same time quickly sinking this Administration's political prospects. To simultaneously push a mass amnesty bill during the Biden immigration enforcement collapse is a legendary violation of public trust," Stein concluded.

Contact: Matthew Tragesser, 202-328-7004 or [emailprotected]

ABOUT FAIR

Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country's largest immigration reform group. With over 3 million members and supporters nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced.

SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)

http://www.fairus.org

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Mayorkas is Killing the Biden Administration's Political Prospects, Says FAIR - PRNewswire

Immigration courts in New York City are open once again for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

During the past year, some remote hearings took place, but only for people who were in detention. Now, non-detained people can have their day in immigration court at Broadway, Varick or Federal Plaza.

My wife is inside and were waiting for the good news, said Ismail Hossein, a Bangladeshi American who was standing outside Federal Plaza immigration court with his young daughter. We applied for that last June, now its July so its been more than a year.

Hosseins wait hasnt been that long, however, according to data compiled and analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University. TRAC found that, on average, people in New York state have been waiting 1,002 days for their cases to be called, which is above the national average of 938 days. This number has only continued to rise, with the average waiting time for an immigration case being 863 days, in 2020 and 696, in 2021.

For those people who have to wait for years, and years to have their cases decided, it essentially means theyre living their lives in limbo, Austin Kocher, an assistant professor at TRAC, told Gothamist/WNYC. It delays really basic things like being able to buy a house, getting involved in your kids school, and it really forces people to make all kinds of really challenging decisions.

This has been further exacerbated by the backlog of pending immigration cases, a longstanding issue that has also taken a backseat to the pandemic. In 2021 alone there are over 1.3 million pending cases across the country, with nearly 150 thousand in New York - making it the state with the third largest number of pending immigration cases, behind only Texas and California. While cases first started to mount in 2009, Kocher points to the Trump administration as a catalyst causing the system to become increasingly overwhelmed.

It was really only under the Trump administration that that number has skyrocketed so much more, Kocher said, noting the rise from 500-thousand cases to 1.3 million in the last few years. But now its continued to grow and there doesnt really seem to be a clear solution other than substantial immigration reform.

Under current law, immigration courts fall under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, with judges hired by the sitting attorney general. So when Biden-appointee Merrick Garland announced in May that the courts would reopen on July 6th, the backlog landed on the desks of an estimated 500 immigration judges nationwide.

Individuals that have waited to have their day in court, if their cases are reset, may have to go to the end of our dockets, Judge Amiena Khan, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, told Gothamist/WNYC. For many judges in the New York courts, that could mean all the way out to December 2023.

Some advocacy groups have pointed to a recent memorandum from the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor to the immigration courts, which followed an executive order from President Joe Biden and aims to address the backlog. And while advocates believe it will help in some situations, they say it is not a long-term solution.

There are still decisions in place which impede immigration judges ability to manage their own dockets, Evangeline Chan, director of the Immigration Law Project at Safe Horizon, an NYC-based victims services organization, told us. We remain concerned about the balancing of due process and the courts need for expediency.

Chan highlighted one case of a client that has been adjourned by the court six times over the last four years. Judge Khan agrees that this is an issue to be addressed, not just in New York City, but on the national level as well.

The judges recognize the tasks that are before us, Judge Khan said. And as immigration judges, we will do as we have always done: rise to the occasion to work to better the process and the system.

Joseph Gedeon reported this story for the Gothamist/WNYCs Race & Justice Unit. If you have a tip, some data, or a story idea, email him at jgedeon@wnyc.org or reach out on Twitter @JGedeon1.

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City's Immigration Courts Reopen After More Than A Year Of Being Shut Down To All But Most Urgent Cases - Gothamist

Texas has felt the impact of the crisis at the southern border more acutely than any other state.

Every two to three years, the number of migrants at our border cycles up again, and, each time, Washington fails to implement policies that would help us better manage migration. As Texans, this is frustrating. Our communities bear the burdens of Washingtons inability to make progress on immigration reform and border policy. But we also understand how essential immigration is to Texas continued growth and prosperity.

I believe Texas has a unique role to play in showing the rest of the country how important it is to both uphold our laws and welcome immigrants. Texas should cooperate with federal law enforcement on the border. More importantly, we should lean in where we really shine: welcoming immigrants and helping them become Americans.

We all know that immigration policy is handled by the federal government and not the states. So Texans cant directly make the changes that are so urgently needed to fix the problem in our backyard such as addressing the root causes of migration from Central America and reforming our laws to build a more robust legal system.

What we and other border states can do is play a unique role in shaping decisions, working with the federal government so that policies reflect the daily reality of residents whose lives exist on both sides of the border. And we can use our voices to show the rest of the United States the benefits of immigration.

As former first lady Laura Bush said in 2019, Were a state that thrives due to the prosperity, ingenuity, transformation and generosity of immigrants. And we are a much richer state for all the cultures that have settled on our land.

Texas is the second-most-diverse state in the nation, with a dynamic culture and a deep-rooted history. One in every six Texans is an immigrant, and more than 107,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients call the state home. Immigrants are the powerhouse of our states economy, comprising 22 percent of our labor force and keeping essential industries like manufacturing and health care moving forward throughout the pandemic and during our recovery.

In 2019, immigrants paid more than $40 billion in taxes, and nearly 390,000 embarked on entrepreneurial ventures. Our strength lies in our shared identity and ability to speak to the real-world benefits that immigrants bring.

Without the border, millions of dollars worth of commerce, travel and trade would be lost, not to mention the cultural hit our great state would take.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas found that a 10 percent increase in manufacturing on the Mexican side of the border has a ripple effect for Texas border towns, increasing employment by 2.8 percent in El Paso, 4.6 percent in Laredo, and 6.6 percent in McAllen. Our location along the longest stretch of the southwestern border has improved our comparative advantage in industries like manufacturing and energy, while giving us a boost in the automotive sector.

Texans benefit from immigration every single day. The relationship is symbiotic: By continuing the tradition of welcoming people from around the world, we help ourselves. The immigrants who arrive here dont only become Americans, they become true Texans.

Its on us to change the narrative about what it means to be a border state. The southwestern border is an opportunity, not a burden or a threat.

By embracing policies that cultivate a streamlined, flexible and humanitarian approach to the border rather than ones that sow fear, we can teach the rest of the country that it is one of our greatest assets.

Texans should vocalize our support for policies that work with our neighbors to improve regional security, expand legal immigration channels and in-region processing, and improve asylum processing. Additionally, we need to advocate for the expansion of legal pathways to work to ensure our economic vitality.

Our 1,200 miles of border is one of our strengths. Immigrants work with us to boost our livelihood, economy and culture.

While a secure border should remain a priority, Texas should maintain its welcoming reputation. Immigrants are essential to our prosperity. Without them, there is no Lone Star state.

Collins is the director of the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative at the George W. Bush Institute.

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Opinion: Uphold laws and welcome immigrants thats the Texan way the country can learn from - Houston Chronicle