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FRESNO COUNTY, Calif (KSEE).- On Thursday the U.S. House passed two major immigration bills: one bill would grant permanent resident status to migrant farm workers, the other major bill, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, would provide permanent resident status and a path to citizenship for those brought to the U.S. as children, and who are temporarily protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA.Central Valley congressman Jim Costa has been a proponent of this bill with Democratic House leadership.

For them the only country theyve ever known is the United States, Costa said. Its estimated that between our community colleges, Fresno State, and UC Merced we may have between four and five thousand DACA students.

A major part of the bill stipulates people must have arrived in the country before age 18, and/or are enrolled in public education and working towards a high school or college diploma. Additionally, people must not have committed major criminal offenses.

Its an earned path, its not amnesty, Costa said.

For Joe Del Bosque a Fresno county farmer who employs migrant farmworkers some undocumented it makes a world of difference for their children.

A lot of them have children who have grown up here, theyve gone through the school system Del Bosque said. And a lot of them are already in college or getting close to going to college.

But congressional Republican leadership say this legislation doesnt do enough. Many Republican House and Senate members feel the growing issue of unaccompanied migrant children on the southern border isnt being adequately addressed by congressional Democrats and President Joe Biden.

They do nothing to address the problem, said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. It ignores the problem, but will actually worsen the situation.

Costa feels some republicans are playing partisanship.

Theyre making politics out of this frankly. And there are multiple facets to this, and thats why we need comprehensive immigration reform that would include improved border security.

But for Joe Del Bosque, strides made in immigration reform mean his employees can live life with more ease.

They go from home to work and back home and then they kind of just keep to themselves because I think they kind of live in fear for part of their lives.

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New immigration bills could have huge impact on Central Valley - YourCentralValley.com