We are not going to start with two million undocumented people instead of 11 million,” he said. We must make our case for bold, inclusive and lasting immigration reform.”How to successfully revamp the nation’s immigration system has for decades eluded policymakers in Washington. Such bills — which were introduced in 2001, 2006, 2007 and 2013 — centered around a trade-off: amped up border security and immigration law enforcement in exchange for a path to citizenship for undocumented people. In 2013, Mr. Obama secured bipartisan Senate passage of an immigration overhaul, 68 to 32, only to see it ignored by the Republican-controlled House. Over the past four years, some of the conservative side of the equation — border security — was secured by Donald J. Trump in the form of tough restrictions on asylum seekers and partial construction of Mr. Trump’s border wall.

Source: New York Times February 17, 2021 23:54 UTC