Monday, October 7, 2024

Congressional Hispanic Caucus says no to Goodlatte bill

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) slammed a House Republican immigration proposal officially known as the Securing America’s Future Act or as the Goodlatte bill, after sponsor Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) CHC Chairwoman Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.) called the proposal the “Mass Deportation Act.”

“Instead of supporting the numerous introduced bipartisan bills that reflect our shared values, House Republican Leaders and this Administration are more interested in pushing partisan, poison-pill legislation that sabotage efforts toward sensible, meaningful legislative protections for Dreamers,” said Lujan Grisham.

The bill has not only received support from conservatives in the Republican conference and House Republican leadership, but the White House has also suggested it will support the bill, which contains many of the administration’s published principles on immigration.

Under Goodlatte’s proposal, existing recipients of DACA benefits would be eligible for a three-year, renewable permit to live and work in the United States. It would also allow them to seek existing paths to citizenship, such as employment-based permanent residency. In exchange for this temporary protections for DACA recipients, the Goodlatte bill would impose a slew of border protection and interior enforcement measures, as well as cuts to legal immigration.

“The Mass Deportation Act is a farce of a bill,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “The bill undermines local law enforcement, it hurts farmers, hurts families, guts legal immigration; and aims to rip apart communities through mass deportation, while only providing Dreamers with temporary protections and no pathway to citizenship.”

THE HILL