The New York Post e-Edition

Dreamers’ pathway may not be via budget bill

Emily Jacobs

It “remains to be seen” if a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, people originally promised such under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, can be included in the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget package, President Biden said.

The commander in chief made the comments just before walking into the White House Sunday while returning from a weekend in Wilmington, Del., after being asked by a pool reporter whether a pathway for citizenship needed to be included in budget reconciliation, which would be rammed through Congress with no GOP support.

“There must be a pathway to citizenship,” he responded, “whether it needs to be in [reconciliation] remains to be seen.”

Democrats and immigrant advocates have felt a newfound urgency to address the legal status of Dreamers in recent weeks, following a federal judge in Texas ruling earlier this month that the program was unlawful.

It was not clear if addressing the DACA program, passed in 2012 to give work permits to and protect from deportation people brought illegally to the United States as minors, would be possible through Democrats’ reconciliation deal.

Biden split his infrastructure package, a centerpiece of his post-COVID agenda, into two for Congress to consider.

UTBREAK

en-us

2021-07-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://nypost.pressreader.com/article/281668258008098

New York Post