WASHINGTON (KSEE/KGPE) — As a candidate, President Donald Trump lobbied Republicans to kill a bipartisan border bill. Lawmakers now want to bring it back.
A pair of Central Valley lawmakers, Republican Rep. David Valadao and Democratic Rep. Adam Gray, have reintroduced the Dignity Act, which aims to document undocumented immigrants.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of people who have immigrated to this country, in ways that they shouldn’t have, but it was their only option,” said Rep. Valadao. “And they play a vital role in our economy.”
“The great majority of immigrants who are here working hard, each and every day in our communities, helping us, with agriculture, helping us, with many other industries,” said Rep. Gray.
But Republican Rep. Tom McClintock, chair of the House Subcommittee on Immigration, has opposed the Dignity Act.
“No. First of all, they broke our immigration laws by entering our country,” said McClintock.
Rep. McClintock has called the Dignity Act an amnesty bill. He says the Biden administration’s immigration policy is costing taxpayers money.
“It has flooded our schools, our classrooms, with non-English speaking students. It has flooded our emergency rooms with illegals demanding care,” McClintock said.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, argues that the Reagan-era amnesty in 1986 demonstrated that documentation reduces poverty and increases tax revenue.
“They were less likely to rely on any kind of government benefits. They were able to support themselves. And that meant that they were paying more taxes into the economy,” Reichlin-Melnick said.
According to the libertarian Cato Institute, the average immigrant generates more than $600,000 for the economy over their lifetime. But Gray says immigration reform is about more than money.
“I’d like to get serious and start working on real issues. Like protecting our friends and neighbors. I’ve heard from farmers who have said to me, people who work for them and have worked for them for 15, 20 years are, in fear,” Gray said.
Rep. Gray says Central Valley farmers are counting on a bipartisan compromise.
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