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US President Joe Biden wants Congress to act on an immigration reform that it would allow Indian doctors and other professionals to expeditiously get their green cards, according to his spokesperson Jen Psaki.

"He believes that there should be faster processing, that our immigration system is broken at many levels," she said at a briefing on Wednesday.

"He is eager to for Congress to move forward with action there."

She was replying to a question about a demonstration by Indian doctors in the US who had been in the frontlines of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic asking for the elimination of country quotas for green cards that would enable them to get permanent residence status faster.

Asked about the delays in processing work authorisation for spouses of those holding H1-B and L1 visas, Psaki said: "The reason we want to push for action on immigration (legislation) on the (Capitol) Hill is to move forward with expediting the processing and doing that on several levels, including a number of the visas.a

"That`s part of the reason why we think that`s such an important piece to move forward on."

Indian doctors held a demonstration outside Congress last week demanding the removal of the country quotas to expedite their green cards,

Last month, Democrats introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill in Congress that would remove the country quotas for green cards.

While spouses of citizens are not restricted by the quotas, all other countries except for Canada and Mexico are each allowed only 26,000 green cards each year and this has created a huge backlog for applicants from countries like India, while some nations do not use their full quota.

According to the State Department, Indians with advanced degrees whose immigration applications were approved in 2009 and skilled workers and professionals whose applications were okayed in 2010 are still waiting for their green cards.

Those wait times are only for those whose applications are already approved, and it could run to centuries for those in the immigration queue.

The immigration reform bill faces an uphill battle because Republicans demand that it include stringent restrictions on illegal immigration and the backing of some members of that party would be required in the Senate.

Earlier, legislative action to remove country caps failed in the last Congress because the Senate and House of Representatives versions of the bill had differences that were not reconciled in time and it lapsed.

The Senate in December 2020 and the House in 2019 had passed the separate versions of the bill.

H-1B visas are for professionals and L-1 visas are for those transferred by their companies to the US.

Their spouses had been allowed to work in the US under a regulations introduced by former President Barack Obama, but his successor Donald Trump had tried to ban work authorisation for them.

In its first week in office, the Biden administration killed Trump`s effort and continued to make the spouses, most of them Indian women, eligible to get work permits.

The San Jose Mercury reported last month that the Citizenship and Immigration Service had attributed the work authorisation "delays to `Covid-19 restrictions, an increase in filings, current postal service volume and other external factors`".

The newspaper added that the agency said that it had redistributed workloads and staff were working extra hours to reduce the delays.

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Biden wants immigration reform to speed up green cards for Indians - WION

The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, introduced by Democrats in mid-Febuary, would establish and eight-year path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants. The multi-faceted bill would broaden the roads to legal immigration, reduce visa backlogs, and more.

The politicians behind these measures, either by co-authoring legislation or by raising awareness, clearing up misconceptions and more, are Latino officials. Whether it be because they share ties with immigrantstruggles via family history, or they represent districts, states, or cities with higher demographics of immigrants or Latinos.

However, it quickly became clear that optimism would come up short regarding the Biden-backed bill because even with a tied Senate, it would still need to garner bipartisan support to pass. While the future of the large-scale bill doesnt look great, the package laid the groundwork for what needs to be done, in a targeted way over time.

Bidens comprehensive immigration bill slated for the foreseeable future, but there is the opportunity to focus on multiple, targeted bills instead of the entirety of Bidens vision.

Thats exactly what happened recently with two separate bills that passed the House last week.

The American Dream and Promise Act would establish a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and DREAMERS brought to the U.S. as children. The House will also vote on the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which would create a pathway for temporary status for undocumented workers in the agricultural industry. The bill outlines a way for them to work to become a permanent resident.

The Dream and Promise act was introduced this year by Latina U.S. Representatives Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), along with Yvette Clarke (D-NY). It later passed the House in March.

In the Senate, Alex Padilla, the first Latino Senator from California told the Los Angeles Times that while comprehensive immigrationreform is a priority, especially in a Democratic Senate and House, piecemeal fixes are acceptable.

With an evenly divided Senate, anything that has a chance of passing will have to be bipartisan at a time when the two parties can barely agree on anything, said Padilla

He told the Times that especially now, with widespread coverage and political rhetoric over the unaccompanied minors at the southern border, even Republicans who are interested in changing immigration laws now say they are leery about supporting minor reforms once seen as possible.

The targeted approaches are more feasible.

Padillas own bill, the Citizenship Essential Workers Act introduced by Reps. Joaquin Castro and Ted Lieu would create an expedited pathway to citizenship for the over 5 million undocumented essential workers who kept Americans healthy, fed, and safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

From a different angle, reps like Chuy Garcia (D-IL) and Veronica Escobar (D-TX) are advocating for what needs to be done within the aspects of targeted legislation that have left out key elements. They are also fighting against misinformation while all eyes are on the Southern Border.

Garcia indicated to AL DA that the American Dream and Promise Act, while substantial, needs to do more to over-criminalized migrants, and in the future, similar legislation must remove provisions that make it harder for them to gain access to citizenship pathways.

These harmful provisions will deny immigrant youth, who would qualify for protections under H.R. 6, a better future. Mistakes committed as a child, or baseless allegations should not derail someone's life, he said.

He went on to say this is why he reintroduced the A New Way Forward Act to roll back immigration laws that result in racial profiling, disproportionate incarceration and deportation with Latino, Black, and Asian communities, and family separation.

In terms of misinformation, Escobar is on the front lines of the migrant crisis at the border, highlighting that it is not only a crisis on that front, but also in the way that it is presented in the media, without prior context of the root causes, and without the reality of the humanitarian crisis at hand.

Americans must finally acknowledge that the real crisis is not at the border but outside it, and that until we address that crisis, this flow of vulnerable people seeking help at our doorstep will not end anytime soon, she wrote on Twitter.

These smaller moves, while not always based on legislative action, are what will immediately work to reform immigration.

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Latinos in Congress are pushing targeted immigration reform while Biden's bill is tabled - AL DIA News

Rich Nathan| Guest Columnist

Twenty years ago, Congress voted for the first time on the Dream Act, a piece of legislation that would provide permanent legal status and a pathway to citizenship for immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. The act failed, but the movement for immigration reformcontinues to this day.

More: Can Joe Biden unite us? Ohioans weigh in on inauguration, the American dream

A new version of the Dream Act, called the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, has passed in the U.S. House. This bipartisan effort at immigration reform could grant legal permanent resident status to as many as 4.4 million immigrants who currently have temporary protection at best, including Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status holders and Deferred Enforced Departure recipients.

More: House passes immigration bill creating pathway to citizenship for 'Dreamers'

The American Dream and Promise Act couldnt come at a better time. While our highly polarized politicians may love to debate immigration reform, the vast majority of ordinary Americans support granting legal status and a pathway to citizenship to undocumented immigrants. But for this new bill to succeed, we need Republican senators to stand up for immigration reform. America is ready for immigration reform; our senators shouldnt waste this opportunity to make it happen.

More: DREAM Act would boost Ohios economy, immigrant advocates say

Part of what makes the American Dream and Promise Act so important is the justice it offers to undocumented people the Dreamers. Through no fault of their own, these Dreamers were brought to this country as children. The Bible sets forth this principle of justice:children should not suffer for the sins of their parents! Dreamers work hard for a better life here; they deserve the opportunity to achieve one.

Im the founding pastor of Vineyard Columbus, a remarkably diverse church that draws its membership from nearly 130 nations. Our congregation includes many Dreamers. Heres one of their stories.

Rosa was brought to the United States as a child.She worked hard to learn English and became an excellent student. Her U.S.-born friends had no idea that she was undocumented. Because of her uncertain legal status, Rosa had to work harder than other children her age. She had to save her money to pay for her schooling, since there are no college grants or funding available to the undocumented. She began working as a medical assistant with a Christian nonprofit that provides low-cost medical care to Americans who are below the poverty line. There, she is a hard worker and a highly valued employee.

The American Dream and Promise Act would give Rosa a way to build a permanent and secure home in the United States. As things stand, Rosa is only permitted to work at all because she received protection under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). But why shouldnt Rosa, and the millions of people like her, be given hope to live here permanently and, ultimately, gain the citizenship status they need to flourish?

The American Dream and Promise Act is a great opportunity for Congress to come together in a bipartisan, consensus-building way to protect people like Rosa. Americas social fabric is sustained by millions of undocumented immigrants who contribute to our country and build Americas future together with all native-born Americans. Senate Republicans must seize this opportunity and act for the good of everyone working toward the American dream.

Rev. Rich Nathan is the founding pastor of Vineyard Columbus, a church he haspastored since 1987. Vineyard Columbus offers a wide range of services to immigrants in the Central Ohio community.

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Opinion: It is time to pass the Dream Act. Local woman's story demonstrates why - The Columbus Dispatch

The House has passed two immigration bills aimed at amending the immigration system. The American Dream and Promise Act would create a process to help undocumented immigrants that were brought to the United States as children earn a conditional permanent resident status and eventual citizenship. This bill also includes a path to citizenship for people with temporary protected status and beneficiaries of deferred enforced departure.

It would protect an estimated 2.5 million immigrants who would then be able to permanently be protected from deportation under this bill, said Leydy Rangel, national communications manager for the UFW Foundation.

Millions in this country live in fear, holding their breaths every day, that they could be deported to faraway lands that are not their homes, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Thursday. Because America is their home. For Dreamers, it has been their home since their earliest days. And today, this House is going to take action as we did last Congress to help them breathe easier.

The bill faced opposition from most GOP members, but it passed by a vote of 228-197.

The next bill passed was the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. According to NPR this bill would establish a system for agricultural workers to earn temporary status with an eventual option to become a permanent resident. The act would also amend the existing H-2A temporary agricultural worker visa program. Rangel said. It would provide undocumented farmworkers a work permit so that theyre able to continue working in agriculture without that fear that so many of them live with.

That fear, according to the United Farm Workers Foundation, is deportation. The foundation says there are 2.4 million farmworkers in the United States, and its estimated that roughly half of them are undocumented. If signed into law, the farm workforce modernization act would enable qualifying undocumented farmworkers to apply for a work permit. They would have to have worked at least 180 days in total in the last two years prior to the bill being introduced on March 8, 2021, said Rangel. The permits would be valid for four to eight years depending on the workers experience. After the permit ends the workers will be able to apply for legal permanent residency and possibly citizenship.

The future of these bills are uncertain because these two bills have not been signed into law, theyve only been passed by the House, and will now need to be negotiated and passed by the Senate in order for the bill to land on President Bidens desk.

Lindsey Urley is a freshman political science major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or at [emailprotected]

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Column: Bills targeting immigration reform are much needed - The Daily Eastern News

On Thursday, U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-06) voted to support two bills that aim to modernize Americas immigration system:The Dream and Promise Act(H.R. 6) which offers a path to lawful permanent resident status for those with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), also known as Dreamers, along with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) recipients, andThe Farm Workforce Modernization Act(H.R. 1603), a bipartisan bill which aims to create a workforce solution for one of Americas most critical economic sectorsthe agriculture industry.

TheDream and Promise Act, which passed the House with bipartisan support, establishes a path to lawful permanent resident (LPR) status for Dreamers and for certain individuals who either held or were eligible for TPS or DED. The majority of these individuals have been in the United States for much of their lives, often with work authorization and temporary protections against deportation. Five years after attaining full LPR status, individuals are then eligible to apply for citizenship. According to recent polling, this concept has been supported by nearly 75 percent of the American public.

Dreamers and TPS holders are our neighbors, friends, and colleagues. They strengthen our communities as teachers, first responders, members of our military, and entrepreneurs,said Rep. Kilmer. For so many reasons, we must create a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and create security and stability for long standing TPS and DED holders. Its past time that Congress acts to ensure that people who have lived in the United States for years receive real protections under the law and a path forward towards legal citizenship.

TheFarm Workforce Modernization Act, a bipartisan bill which passed the House 247-174, aims to ensure farmers can meet their labor needs by establishing a program for agricultural workers, their spouses and minor children through which they can earn legal Certified Agricultural Worker (CAW) status through continued agricultural employment.The legislation also reforms the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program to provide more flexibility for employers, while ensuring critical protections for workers.Additionally, to ensure a legal workforce for the agriculture sector, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act establishes a mandatory, nationwide E-Verify system to ensure compliance with the reformed H-2A visa program while also protecting workers due process rights.

Having met with farmers and ranchers throughout our state, I know that they are persistently challenged to find laborers who can support their work,said Rep. Kilmer. Whats more, based on the outdated polies of the current immigration workforce system, there is tremendous uncertainty both for workers and for employers. Thats why Im supporting the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act which enacts reforms to ensure a reliable, stable, and legal source of guest workers in agriculture providing certainty to employers and to workers.

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Kilmer Votes to Support Comprehensive Immigration Reform Measures - The Suburban Times