Rep. Ilhan Omar on Sunday urged Democrats to ignore the Senate parliamentarian's ruling that lawmakers could not tack on a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants to their $3.5T budget reconciliation package.
Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, the nonpartisan interpreter of the Senate's complex rule system, determined Sunday night that Democrats could not pass amnesty legislation through reconciliation, which would allow them to pass it with a simple majority and bypass the filibuster, because that process is restricted to budget matters.
'This ruling by the parliamentarian, is only a recommendation. @SenSchumer and the @WhiteHouse can and should ignore it,' Omar, D-Minn., wrote on Twitter. 'We can't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to do the right thing.'
Rep. Ilhan Omar on Sunday urged Democrats to ignore the Senate parliamentarian's ruling that lawmakers tack on a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in their $3.5T budget reconciliation package
Republicans have already signaled they will use immigration as a cudgel to hit Democrats with in the upcoming midterms, as the migrant crisis at the southern border reaches unprecedented highs and border officials struggle to process and house all those coming through
'We can't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to do the right thing.'
MacDonough, a one-time immigration lawyer, ruled that the provision was not allowed because its budget impact was only incidental to its policy change.
She said the provision was 'a policy change that substantially outweighs the budgetary impact of that change,' as it could impact the immigration status of 8 million people. She added that it would raise the deficit by an estimated $140 billion over 10 years, due in large part to the benefits migrants would then qualify for.
The rejected provisions would open multiyear
