Casey Higgins Discusses Immigration Reform on Bipartisan Policy Center Podcast
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Akin Gump public law and policy senior policy advisor Casey Higgins was interviewed on the Bipartisan Policy Center podcast. On the episode, Higgins recaps the U.S. congressional activity on immigration at the end of 2021 and provides predictions on the 2022 term.
Among the topics discussed:
Democrats attempt to move immigration provisions forward in 2021 – “I think there were two different dynamics at play here. One is the broader challenge of passing the Build Back Better legislation regardless of immigration’s place in that legislation. The second issue was the reconciliation rules and whether immigration would be allowed to be a part of this legislation and operate under reconciliation rules. […] Many of us expected that this was going to be an uphill battle and unlikely to come to fruition.”
Bipartisan support for immigration provisions in 2022 – “I think there’s just such a drastic misalignment of priorities between the two sides. The Democrats are very much interested in finding a pathway for the undocumented at large. Republicans continue to be focused on the border, and one of the challenges is that the border is in pretty rough shape right now.”
Consequences of a lack of immigration reform – “It’s terrible for the economy, to start, and it’s terrible for people. We’ve been dealing with this for years, if not decades, […] where we have all of these people in legal limbo and employers aren’t able to get the employees they need. […] At the same time, it creates more undocumented people. It creates more stress on the border. It’s really bad all around.”
To listen to the full episode, click here.
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