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February 24, 2021
Dear John xxxxxx,
The White House-backed immigration bill recently introduced in Congress would, among other provisions, establish a pathway to citizenship for most of the country’s estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants. Even as the Biden administration and congressional Democrats hope to get this broad legalization enacted, some argue that more targeted proposals, including for DREAMers, may have greater success in a narrowly divided Congress. The latest version of the DREAM Act, which has long had bipartisan support, could be one of the first narrower legalization proposals considered.
In a new commentary, Migration Policy Institute (MPI) Senior Fellow Michael Fix and Senior Policy Analyst Jeanne Batalova offer estimates of the numbers who could benefit from the DREAM Act of 2021. Given the focus on essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, they also offer estimates of DREAMers who are essential workers and the numbers working in health care.
“The broad, sustained bipartisan political support for DREAMers in evidence for many years—coupled with the growing recognition of the contributions of essential workers—provide powerful starting points for Congress and the Biden administration to realize some of their immigration reform ambitions,” they write.
You can read the commentary here: www.migrationpolicy.org/news/dreamers-who-could-feature-legalization-debate. And for a deeper look at the overall legalization debate and other immigrant subgroups under discussion for targeted legalizations, check out this report.
Best regards,
Michelle Mittelstadt
Director of Communications and Public Affairs
Migration Policy Institute
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