President Joe Biden on Thursday fully endorsed the idea of putting amnesty for illegal immigrants into the multitrillion-dollar budget reconciliation bill.
“I think we should include in the reconciliation bill the immigration proposal,” he said to reporters as he left the White House Thursday evening to visit his wife, Jill Biden, at Walter Reed Hospital.
The president commented after meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Sen. Dick Durbin (R-IL) on the issue of amnesty at the White House.
The White House clarified and expanded Biden’s comments in a statement about the meeting:
President Biden and Vice President Harris expressed their strong support for including immigration reform in upcoming reconciliation legislation to enable Dreamers, TPS recipients, farmworkers, and essential workers to gain long-awaited pathways to citizenship.
Despite Biden’s endorsement, it is unclear if the Senate parliamentarian will decide if amnesty may be added under the budget rules of reconciliation.
Democrats believe they can use budget reconciliation to pass amnesty, as they are confident in the economic benefits of their plan.
Congressional Democrats view the reconciliation bill as the last chance to pass amnesty for illegal immigrants with their 50 votes in the Senate and a tiebreak from Vice President Kamala Harris.