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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

The proposed bill would eliminate country cap and allow the use of unused visa slots from previous years.

Four years of the Trump administration have been tumultuous as far as immigration is concerned. A just-released Pew Research Center report takes a look at the impact it had had on immigration.

According to the study, the number of people who received a green card declined from about 236,000 in the second quarter of the 2020 fiscal year (January to March) to under 78,000 in the third quarter (April to June). By comparison, in the third quarter of fiscal 2019, nearly 266,000 people received a green card.

Now with a new president in town, all eyes are on him and his proposed immigration reforms. President Joe Biden has already announced his immigration agenda and is working toward boosting refugee admissions. However, when it comes to work-based immigration, there are a lot of questions on how the Biden administration proposes to work on them, especially on employment-based green cards and H-1B visas.

One of the issues that concerns Indian nationals on work visas in the United States is the employment-based green cards. The Biden administrations proposed legislation could boost the number of employment-based green cards. Currently, the maximum employment-based green cards that can be issued each year is 140,000.

Even that comes with a catch: Citizens of no single country can claim more than 7 percent of available green cards. That policy has resulted in creating a massive green card back log for countries such as India and China.

READ: Biden bill increases country caps opening new avenues for Indians (February 18, 2021)

Bidens proposed legislation would not only eliminate the per country cap but would also allow the use of unused visa slots from previous years. It will also allow spouses and children of employment-based visa holders to receive green cards while not counting them under the annual cap limit.

Overall, we could have retained these high skilled immigrants and their families if the backlog situation were resolved by previous administrations, said Pooja B Vijayakumar, a consultant and researcher on immigration. The current immigration system is broken, and I hope that this issue is taken up seriously. In the future, the Biden administration has plans to hire more foreign workers, which is great, but this should be only done once the current green card backlog issue is addressed.

H-1B visas:

There is also talk on whether the Biden administration would reverse Trump-era policies that resulted in unprecedented rate of H-1B visa denials.

According to the Pew report, In fiscal 2019, more than 188,000 high-skilled foreign workers received H-1B visas. H-1Bs accounted for 22 percent of all temporary visas for employment issued in 2019. In all, nearly 2 million H-1B visas were issued from fiscal years 2007 to 2019.

The new administration has for now decided not to implement a rule proposed by Trump that aimed at linking H-1B visas to wages.

The administration withdrew a notice issued just five days before Trumps exit regarding compliance with a law requiring US employers to pay H-1B visa foreign workers the same or more than Americans in similar jobs by both staffing agencies and their clients.

There is also a proposal to provide permanent work permits to the spouses of H-1B visa holders.

We live in a globalized world and our society is stronger when we have a manageable approach to legal immigration that works for the country and for immigrants both individuals and families, said Christopher J. L. Cunningham, Professor of Psychology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

I am encouraged that the proposed policy and process changes I am hearing about are promising and seem to be in-line with actions that should help to address some of the challenges and issues. There is clearly much more work to be done before we understand and can work to support legal immigration in a way that protects the health, well-being and dignity of all.

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How will Biden's proposed immigration reform affect Green Card and H-1B... - The American Bazaar

A UCLA study published today found that providing citizenship to all unauthorized immigrant workers in the United States would add at least $1.5 trillion to the American economy and $367 billion in federal and state tax revenue over the next decade.

By comparison, granting citizenship only to the members of that group who are considered essential workers including in agriculture, retail and construction would generate an additional $1.2 trillion to the nations gross domestic product and $298 billion in tax revenue over the same timeframe.

Granting citizenship only to people covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, or DACA, would generate $112 billion in GDP and $28 billion in tax revenue; and granting citizenship only to recipients of Temporary Protected Status would account for $62 billion in GDP and $16 billion in tax revenue.

The study is a collaboration among theUCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative, theUCLANorth American Integration and Development Centerand theUCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. Its publication comes as Congress and the Biden administration are considering ways to move forward on immigration reform.

When it comes to immigration policy, we want to highlight that there is a risk that excluding some people from immigration reform will come at the expense of the economy, said Ral Hinojosa-Ojeda, director of the North American Integration and Development Center and a faculty affiliate of the Latino Policy and Politics Initiative. Keeping immigrants in the shadows stymies economic growth, slows down job creation and hurts local economies, making it a political play that hurts all of our pocketbooks.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, then-candidate Joe Biden promised his policies would include a path to citizenship for the nations estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants. But because of Congress repeated failures over the past two decades to pass broader legislation that would provide citizenship to all unauthorized immigrants, members of Congress have, in the past two months, introduced multiple standalone bills to address specific aspects of immigration policy.

Those piecemeal reform proposals would grant citizenship to certain groups of unauthorized immigrants those covered by DACA or Temporary Protected Status, for example while excluding others.

According to the UCLA report, any immigration reform that excludes certain groups of immigrants from earning citizenship would mean forgoing billions of dollars in economic output and tax revenue, and the potential for creating tens of thousands of jobs.

The authors write that the legal protections that come with citizenship, along with the wider access to jobs and economic opportunities, would produce a 25% increase in wages, on average, for unauthorized workers. The anticipated increase in wages that would fuel further economic activity, which in turn would lead to increases in economic output, tax revenue and job creation.

As the Biden administration and congressional leaders consider how to move forward with immigration reform, the report offers a data-backed look at how their decisions could influence the nations economy, said Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas, research director of the Latino Politics and Policy Initiative and a co-author of the study.

At a time when Latinos have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, largely due to their role as essential workers, the study makes it clear that implementing comprehensive immigration reform is both an economic and moral imperative, Dominguez-Villegas said. If the economy is truly the priority, its clear that exclusionary policies are costly compromises.

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Citizenship for unauthorized immigrants could add $1.5 trillion to economy over next 10 years - UCLA Newsroom