Thursday PM Immigration Bulletin: Eagle Vote “Imminent”

House Vote “Imminent” For Eagle Act

Three aides to top House Democrats tell me that the Eagle Act is expected to get a floor vote when members return to Capitol Hill after Thanksgiving.

“We’re working on it,” said a senior aide in House Democratic leadership. “I can’t say exactly when, but a vote on the Eagle Act is imminent.”

The news comes after months of uncertainty over the fate of the bill that, if passed, would remove 7% per-country caps on green cards for employment-based visa holders and increase the caps on family-based visa holders from seven to fifteen percent.

Eagle Act creates no new green cards; instead it reshuffles existing green card allotments to benefit visa migrants from countries with the highest demand — currently India and China for employment-based visas and Mexico and the Philippines for family-based visas.

Opponents of the bill say the reshuffling of green cards under the Eagle Act would box out migrants from countries in Africa and the Middle East when the policy is implemented after an 11 year grace period (two years for the bill to take effect and another nine for it to be fully implemented).

Proponents of the bill vehemently dismiss naysayer concerns, saying that the Eagle Act is fundamentally about fairness in the way the United States allocates green cards for employment-based visa migrants. Employment-based migrants from India, in particular, say that they feel discriminated against based on their country of origin.

In July, Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) introduced the Eagle Act’s companion bill in the upper chamber. Kramer expressed hope on Tuesday that the bill could potentially be attached to must-pass legislation in the lame duck.

• Subscribers can read the full Q&A here.

The House and Senate are gone next week for Thanksgiving and will return the following Monday to what has already been a busy lame duck session.

Grassley Maybe Open to Dreamer Deal

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) told Bloomberg's Nancy Ognanovich that an immigration deal is possible, but only if President Joe Biden does more on enforcement.

"I think one of the things that keeps us from passing any immigration legislation is the fact that the president has poisoned the waters of that discussion,' said Grassley.

This year, Grassley has been instrumental in nixing relief proposals focused on STEM PhD workers in the CHIPS and Science Act and documented dreamer relief in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Senator Todd Young (R-IN) told me in September that Grassley wanted to wait until the next Congress to do anything on immigration. It's unclear if Grassley has changed his mind now that Democrats have retained the Senate.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said Wednesday that he has four or five GOP Senators who would support dreamer relief in the lame duck, but wouldn’t say which senators are on board.

Durbin has named Grassley to reporters multiple times in recent months as a key roadblock to immigration policy negotiations.

If Grassley comes on board for dreamer relief (or any immigrant relief measure), the prospects of its passing in the Senate increase dramatically.

• Here is what GOP Senators told me this week about the prospects of dreamer relief in the lame duck.

News Clips

• Sen. Jon Ossoff Takes ICE to Task Over 'Appalling' Gynecological Treatments in Detention - Caitlin Cruz for JEZEBEL
• The Diminishing Returns of Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric - Alan Cross for THE BULLWARK