The House on Thursday passed two proposals that would legalize subsets of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. without legal permission, as Democrats gauge the chances of approving immigration legislation and sending it to President Biden’s desk.

Joined by nine Republicans, all House Democrats voted to approve the American Dream and Promise Act, which passed by a vote of 228 to 197. The proposal would allow more than 2.3 million “Dreamers,” or unauthorized immigrants who came to the U.S. as minors, as well as beneficiaries of certain temporary humanitarian programs, to gain permanent legal status and eventually, U.S. citizenship.

The Democratic-led also passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act 247-174, which would grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of farmworkers living in the U.S. without authorization. Thirty Republicans voted in favor of the bill, and one Democrat voted against it.

The two measures were recently reintroduced after passing the House in 2019 with some Republican support. Given that Mr. Biden’s sweeping plan to legalize most of the country’s undocumented population has been met with broad Republican rejection, the stand-alone bills may represent Democrats’ best chance of getting immigration legislation through the evenly divided Senate.

“It’s always been a pleasure for me to sing the praises of our Dreamers. They make us so proud,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at an event with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus at the Capitol ahead of the votes. “For us, this is a day of not only passing legislation, but a cause for celebration.”

If signed into law, the American Dream and Promise Act would make recipients of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and other undocumented immigrants brought to the country before age 18 eligible to apply for a 10-year period of conditional permanent residence if they satisfy several requirements.

Would-be applicants would be eligible to apply for permanent residence if they earned a college degree or enrolled in a bachelor’s program for two years; if they served in the military for at least two years; or if they worked in the U.S. for a three-year period.

More than 300,000 immigrants living in the U.S. with Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure, two provisional forms of humanitarian relief, would automatically be eligible to apply for permanent residency under the bill if they meet the eligibility rules, which include having lived in the U.S. for at least three years.

The House has approved the DREAM Act.

The vote: 228 to 197. 

The bill provides a path to citizenship for brought to the US illegally as minors and other groups provided protected status under DACA.

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) March 18, 2021

228-197: House passes HR 6,the American Dream and Promise Act,providing a pathway to citizenship for "Dreamers," undocumented immigrants brought to US as children, and those w/temporary protected status.

9 Republicans joined all Democrats in voting Yes. Bill now heads to Senate. pic.twitter.com/GPeO9L4NEw

— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) March 18, 2021

*U.S. HOUSE VOTES TO PROVIDE PATHWAY TO CITIZENSHIP FOR DREAMERS

— Jordan Fabian (@Jordanfabian) March 18, 2021

BREAKING.🚨

The House Democrats just passed legislation that *guarantees* the border crisis will get worse.🔻https://t.co/8goEwozJZd

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) March 18, 2021

Joe Biden had this to say on Twitter:

It’s long past time Congress gives a path to citizenship for Dreamers and TPS recipients who strengthen our country and call our nation home. I strongly support the Dream and Promise Act and urge all members of the House to vote yes.

— President Biden (@POTUS) March 18, 2021

Before the bill passed, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise urged republicans to vote against it, warning that the bill will only cause an increase in the amount of illegal migrants trying to cross the border.

Fox News with more:

The H-2A program allows U.S. employers or U.S. agents who meet specific regulatory requirements to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary agricultural jobs.

But House Minority Whip Steve Scalise is urging all Republicans to vote against the Dream Act in a further sign that bipartisanship will be hard to come by on immigration issues, as the GOP continues to pummel President Biden for the surge of migrants at the southern border.

Scalise, R-La., sent a memo to his GOP colleagues Wednesday blasting Biden’s “open borders and lax enforcement” and arguing Republicans should not be providing “amnesty” to undocumented immigrants.

“The bill would only worsen the flow of illegal immigrates to the U.S.,” Scalise wrote to his colleagues.

Democrats, however, were hoping for some bipartisan cooperation to protect so-called Dreamers, who came to the United States illegally as children and in some cases have no recollection of their country of birth. Protections for Dreamers from deportation have typically garnered some bipartisan support.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday said that the U.S. is on track to encounter more migrants than it has in the last 20 years, and defended the administration’s approach to a border surge that he described as “difficult.”

This is an absolute disaster.

Joe Biden and the democrats are quickly eroding the country’s security with bad policy.

Immigration numbers have skyrocked under Biden.

Joe Biden could end this massive border crisis by reversing his immigration executive orders that are causing it.

RT to tell him to do it immediately.

— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) March 17, 2021

The crisis at the border is the direct result of the Biden administration's failed immigration policy.

The Biden administration:

❌ Brought back catch and release

❌ Halted construction of the wall

❌ Ended the Remain in Mexico policy

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 16, 2021

We are seeing an absolute crisis unfold and illegal immigration numbers skyrocket due to Joe Biden’s political decisions.

Biden halted construction of border wall, ended the Remain in Mexico policy, and reinstituted catch and release. pic.twitter.com/4dG2RW2hnA

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 17, 2021

President Biden halted construction of the border wall and refuses to enforce immigration laws.

Sorry @SpeakerPelosi, the southern border crisis wasn’t inherited — it was created.

— Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne (@RepBethVanDuyne) March 15, 2021

Who is benefitting from Biden’s immigration policies? Human traffickers, drug cartels and smugglers. The crisis at the border puts American values, and lives, last.

— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) March 17, 2021

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