Democrats to take up immigration reform next week
02 March 2021
The House will vote on two immigration bills next week, including one to protect undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday on a call with the Democratic caucus.
Why it matters: This is likely the only realistic shot the Biden administration has at this point to pass immigration reform.
- The two bills, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act and the American Dream and Promise Act, both passed the House with bipartisan support last Congress.
- The first one would provide permanent residency for undocumented farmworkers, while the other would allow undocumented immigrants who came to the states as children stay in the country and apply for citizenship.
Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced a Senate version of the Dream Act last month, indicating the bill has at least somebipartisan support in the Senate.
- Americans overwhelmingly support lettingundocumented immigrants who came to the states as children stay in the country and apply for citizenship.
Between the lines: Democrats are still whipping Biden's U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which would reverse many executive orders handed down by the Trump administration, possibly providing citizenship for more than 11 million undocumented immigrants.
- But congressional sources tell Axios the House does not have the votes on the comprehensive bill.
What's next: After campaigning against former President DonaldTrump by accusing him of putting "kids in cages," Biden now is now seeing a brewing child migrant problem.
- More than 700 children who crossed from Mexico into the United States without their parents were held in Border Patrol custody as of last week.
- A crisis at the border could make it even harder for Congress to pass substantial immigration reforms.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.