Schumer wants amnesty for 11 million migrants

Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made another pitch for amnesty on Wednesday when he claimed the US is “labor short” so Congress must approve a “road to citizenship” for “however many undocumented people are here.”

“We are short of workers, we have a population that is not self-reproducing at the same level as it used to be,” argued the New York Democrat.

“The only way we’re going to have a great future is if we welcome and embrace immigrants… get a pathway to citizenship for all 11 million or however many there are here.”

The undocumented immigrant population is difficult to track, at the end of 2021 the anti-immigration group FAIR estimated the number at 15.5 million. But in fiscal year 2022, which ended in October, there were 2.76 million illegal immigration encounters at the southern border, not counting “escapes” that went undetected by law enforcement.

Republicans made the southern border one of the top three focuses — along with crime and inflation — in the midterm elections.

Schumer also pushed back on the narrative that immigration is bringing crime to America.

“Immigrants, undocumented, with papers have higher employment rates and lower crime rates than the average American — so all the BS being spread by these right-wing people, the filth, it’s just not true. It just annoys me!’

Schumer told reporters at the Capitol ahead of the news conference that he hoped immigration reform would pass through the upper chamber before January during the lame duck session.

In the next Congress, Democrats will hold a narrow majority of one or two seats, depending on Georgia’s second round.

“Now let’s roll up our sleeves and get this done. American sent a clear message [in the midterms]. They rejected the deeply anti-immigrant message of the MAGA Republicans,” Schumer said.

Senate Democrats are targeting legislation to provide a pathway to citizenship for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, who number some 600,000 in the US.

DACA has faced a number of legal challenges with the Trump administration attempting to terminate the program before the Supreme Court blocked it in 2020.

Last month, a circuit court ruled that DACA was illegal, but directed a lower court to consider a rule from the Biden administration that would allow it to remain in effect for current recipients without accepting new ones. The case could make its way to the Supreme Court, where it could become an uphill battle with the Conservative majority.

Republicans have indicated in the past that they are open to legislation protecting Dreamers, as DACA recipients are known, but have demanded security measures to “close the border” in exchange for support.

Senator Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said at least 10 Republicans are expressing private interest in granting Dreamers citizenship, the number it would take to pass a Senate filibuster.

“We are calling on 10 of our Republican colleagues to have the courage to vote in public — consistent with what they tell us behind closed doors,” Padilla said.

Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the Judiciary Committee that deals with immigration law, said he is asking Republicans to meet with him to discuss a DACA bill, calling it a “high priority” for December.

In a hint at who might vote with the Democrats, immigration advocacy groups this week scored meetings with Republicans Pat Toomey, Pa., John Cornyn, Texas, Mike Rounds, South Dakota, and Mike Lee, Utah, according to Politico.