House Passes Legislation for DREAMERS and Farm Workers, but Bills Face Uncertain Future in Senate

On March 18, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass key immigration bills that are set to create a pathway for citizenship for millions of immigrants in the United States. The two bills, the American Dream and Promise Act and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act offer an avenue to legalization for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, farmworkers, and those with Temporary Protected Status (TPS). 

The American Dream and Promise Act passed the House with a vote of 228-197, including nine Republicans voting in favor of the bill. The bill offers a potential path to citizenship for an estimated 2.5 million DACA recipients, as well as those with TPS. 

Here is a list of requirements and benefits for DACA recipients:

• The bill would create a “conditional permanent resident” status for DACA beneficiaries, providing them status for up to 10 years and allowing them to work and live in the United States and travel abroad. 

• To qualify for “conditional permanent resident” status, recipients would need to show that they are not inadmissible to the United States based on certain grounds, including criminal convictions, national security concerns, and other immigration bars. They must also demonstrate that they have earned a high school diploma or equivalent and pass a background check. 

Here is a list of requirements and benefits for TPS recipients:

• TPS holders can obtain a green card if they establish that they have lived continuously in the U.S. for at least three years before the bill is enacted.

• Prove that they were eligible or had obtained TPS on September 17, 2017.

• Submit an application within three years of the bill's passing and meet the general admissibility requirements for obtaining a green card.

• Pay a fee. 

• The bill would protect TPS recipients or TPS-eligible individuals from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, as well as individuals with Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) from Liberia. Unfortunately, the bill would not benefit individuals from Venezuela or Burma who received TPS grants in 2021. 

For a detailed list of requirements for all beneficiaries of the Dream and Promise Act check here.

“The American Dream and Promise Act of 2021 is a critical first step in reforming our immigration system and will provide much-needed relief to TPS holders and Dreamers, young people who came here as children and know no other country," said President Joe Biden in a statement after the bill was passed.

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act passed with a vote of 247-174, with thirty Republicans voting in favor of the bill. The bill includes an “earned legalization program,” which would allow individuals to apply for “Certified Agricultural Worker” (CAW) status. CAW status would provide individuals with temporary residency during the 18-month application period. 

Here is a list of the requirements and benefits for CAW status:

• Provide proof of employment in the U.S. agricultural industry for at least 180 work days over the previous two years.

• CAW status can be renewed indefinitely as long as the individual continues to do agricultural work for at least 100 days a year.

• Applicants must undergo background and security checks.

• Individuals who qualify for CAW can also obtain status for their spouses and minor children.

• Long-term workers can earn a path to permanent residency by paying a $1,000 fine and completing a specific term of agricultural work. This term would include four additional years of work for individuals with ten years of prior work or eight years of additional work for individuals with less than ten years of prior work.

For a detailed list of Farm Workforce Modernization Act requirements, check here. 

California lawmaker Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who sponsored the bill, thanked farmworkers for assisting the country through the COVID-19 Pandemic, "thanks to the farmers of America, but also the farmworkers of America, most of whom are undocumented and most of whom have been here more than 10 years. They live in a period of uncertainty, and we decided we should do something about it."

Both bills stand as important steps towards immigration reform and are seen by some as an attempt to make progress for specific populations of immigrants, while comprehensive immigration reform remains pending. 

However, there are those who would argue that the administration's focus on “Dreamers” and farmworkers indicates their goal of providing status to certain segments of the immigrant community that are deemed safe while eschewing policy changes that benefit individuals with criminal convictions or more complicated backgrounds. Advocates have also lamented the Biden administration’s lack of action to curtail immigrant detention or significantly scale back the operation of agencies like the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigrant and Customs Enforcement. 

The bills will now head to the Senate, where they are likely to face serious opposition from Republicans. The bills would require 10 Republican votes in order to pass, meaning that some form of compromise or alteration to the bill may be required. To further complicate matters, Republicans have seized on recent events at the U.S.-Mexico border as a negotiating point, with Sen. Lindsey Graham, a leader on immigration policy in the Senate, conditioning any legislative deals on stopping migration at the border. “It’s going to be really hard to get a bipartisan bill put together on anything that has a legalization component until you stop the flow.”

While the American Dream and Promise Act and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act present potential pathways to status for vulnerable immigrants, it remains to be seen if and when the bills become law.