Senate parliamentarian rejects immigration reform in spending bill

Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough rejected the Democrats' plan to include immigration reform provisions in the Build Back Better bill. The provisions could not pass through the budget reconciliation process, said the parliamentarian.

The decision is the latest setback for the Democrats’ hopes of including immigration reform in the $2 trillion spending bill. The reform sought to give work permits to immigrants who have been in the U.S. since before 2011 and give more family-based or employment-based visas.

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Dick Durbin met with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Bob Menendez, and expressed their disappointment after MacDonough's decision was announced.

“We strongly disagree with the Senate parliamentarian’s interpretation of our immigration proposal, and we will pursue every means to achieve a path to citizenship in the Build Back Better Act,” they said in a joint statement with Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).

“The decision by the parliamentarian is deeply disappointing and relegates millions to an uncertain and frightening future,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

This was the third time MacDonough rejected the plans to provide a pathway to citizenship for immigrants.

Democrats initially pitched to MacDonough to use the spending bill to provide eight million green cards to four immigrant groups: “Dreamers,” who came to the U.S. undocumented as children; temporary protected status holders; agricultural workers; and other essential workers.

The second plan that Democrats presented wanted to change the registration date for certain undocumented migrants and beneficiaries of humanitarian parole programs. 

The Senate Parliamentarian is in charge of determining whether reconciliation proposals have a direct impact on the federal budget. She determined that the proposals are not primarily related to the budget.

"These are substantial policy changes with lasting effects just like those we previously considered and outweigh the budgetary impact," MacDonough wrote on Thursday.