Two leading voices are making the case why Democrats need to keep their promises and deliver on citizenship for millions.
Lorella Praeli, co-president of Community Change Action and former Latino vote director for the Hillary Clinton campaign, argues that Democrats need to deliver on their promises. In a national AP wire story by Steve Peoples, she says:
“At the end of the day, no one’s going to give a damn about the parliamentarian’s ruling. They’re just going to remember there was a Democrat in the White House and a Democratic majority in Congress.”
Cecilia Muñoz, senior adviser at New America and former director of the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Obama, has a new op-ed in The Hill, “Senate parliamentarian strains to block long overdue immigration reform.” She writes:
“There is a clear, legitimate pathway on the reconciliation bill to allow immigration legislation that the public — if not their Republican senators — clearly supports. This is the time. If the Senate parliamentarian will not follow the clear path that allows her to get to ‘yes,’ the Senate should overrule her and get the job done.”
Find longer excerpts from both pieces below.
Lorella Praeli in a national AP wire story by Steve Peoples on the political imperatives of Democrats delivering on their immigration promises:
“‘There is cost to inaction,’ warned Lorella Praeli.
… Her organization and others are pressing the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress to fight the parliamentarian’s ruling or disregard it altogether. She predicted that the Democrats’ ability — or inability — to deliver on what has been a party priority for more than a decade would resonate with voters in states such as Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin and Nevada, among others that host high-profile elections next fall.
‘At the end of the day, no one’s going to give a damn about the parliamentarian’s ruling. They’re just going to remember there was a Democrat in the White House and a Democratic majority in Congress.’”
Cecilia Muñoz op-ed in The Hill, “Senate parliamentarian strains to block long overdue immigration reform.”
“Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth McDonough’s stunning recent decision to disallow immigration proposals from the budget reconciliation bill made it abundantly clear how eager she was to get to ‘no,’ despite ample precedent and a strong rationale that would allow for the immigration proposal to be included in a reconciliation bill. There was a pathway to ‘yes’ that was well-considered and legitimate. She chose the other path, and her argument shows that she had to work plenty hard to get there.
…McDonough calls the immigration proposals that passed on prior reconciliation bills ‘less fraught.’ Although it’s buried in the text, this is the punch line. What’s at issue here really is that getting anything done on immigration — even something that the country overwhelmingly supports — is hard … Her own analysis reveals that this is why the parliamentarian balked, even though there is a pathway that allows the Senate to at long last do its job on this issue. The parliamentarian’s action also revealed how serious the Senate Democrats are about getting these immigration proposals through.
…Democrats in the Senate are right to push to move this legislation at any opportunity. There is a clear, legitimate pathway on the reconciliation bill to allow immigration legislation that the public — if not their Republican senators — clearly supports. This is the time. If the Senate parliamentarian will not follow the clear path that allows her to get to ‘yes,’ the Senate should overrule her and get the job done.”
