The rules of the House of Representatives normally require that legislation receive a committee hearing, markup, and vote before receiving a vote on the House floor. However, the rules adopted by the House in January waive this requirement until April 1 for bills that previously passed the House. This expedited process could encourage the House to act quickly on legislation it passed last Congress. The last votes scheduled on the House calendar before April 1 are on March 12—meaning that if the House uses this procedure, it would have just over a month to make it happen.
There are a couple of important differences between this Congress and last Congress that could make it more difficult to pass these ten bills. First, Democrats have a slimmer majority (220 now v. 235 last year with 218 being the majority of the House). This means that the Democrats have less margin for error within their party. Second, the attack on the Capitol by some Republican voters, the attempt by 139 House Republicans to overturn the election, and the impeachment and trial of Donald Trump has created unusual obstacles to even small-scale bipartisan cooperation.
The ten immigration bills that passed last Congress cover a wide range of topics, including legalization of certain Dreamers and farm workers, green card reforms for high skilled workers, standards and oversight of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), restrictions on presidential authority, and greater legal protections for people detained by DHS agencies. Overall, the bills fall far short of comprehensive reform, but they would nonetheless constitute significant and generally positive changes to the system.
House-Passed Immigration Bills from the 116th Congress
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H.R. 6 — American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 (passed 237 – 187 on June 4, 2019)
Every Democrat and seven Republicans (Fred Upton — MI, Chris Smith — NJ, Dan Newhouse — WA, Brian Fitzpatrick — PA, Mario Diaz-Balart — FL, Don Bacon — NE, and Will Hurd — TX) voted for this bill last Congress. Of the seven Republicans, only Hurd is gone, and a couple more Republicans who defeated Democrats in November may vote for this bill. The unanimous support from Democrats with some Republicans virtually guarantees that this bill will receive a vote by March 12.
The bill provides the opportunity to receive legal permanent residence (green cards) to certain illegal immigrants who entered the United States at least four years ago as children before the age of 18 as well as those in the Temporary Protected Status program as of January 1, 2017—about 2.6 million people, according the Migration Policy Institute’s Julia Gelatt.
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H.R.1044 — Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act (passed 365 – 65 on July 10, 2019)
All but eight Democrats and 57 Republicans supported this bill. The lopsided vote is the second time that the House of Representatives has passed this bill with majorities of both parties voting in favor since 2011. This would seem to make it a lock to get fast-tracked this Congress, but unlike the other bills on this list, the Senate actually amended and passed this bill as well. Normally, this would be a positive development, but because the House disagreed with its changes, it may complicate its decision to bring the bill to the floor quickly. But the complication doesn’t rule out early action. The House may want to just kick it back to the Senate quickly to get the process going.
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