Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has presented a plan to provide amnesty to child immigrants in exchange for border protection measures.
The Secure Border and Protect DACA Act of 2021 seeks two purposes.
First, the act proposes to create two periods of five-year “conditional permanent resident” status for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) undocumented immigrants that would protect them from deportation, allow for legal employment, permit international travel and offer an opportunity for full legal status.
The second purpose of the act seeks tens of billions of dollars in long-term funding for the southern border “border wall system,” increased border security personnel and extended law enforcement. The act also specifically calls for an end of the Obama era catch-and-release policy.
The amnesty portion would allow illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. prior to age 16 and have lived in the country since June 2012 to apply for conditional permanent status. The plan could potentially provide American citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants.
The first portion of the proposed act would face much resistance from Senate conservatives. The second aspect, focused on border protection, would face scrutiny from Senate Democrats.
Nearly 100,000 illegal immigrants have already crossed the nation’s southern border since President Joe Biden‘s inauguration. The surge follows the president’s executive orders to end most deportations for 100 days, as well as ending construction of former President Donald Trump‘s border wall.
Scott’s act proposes to restart funding for a “border wall system” and increase border law enforcement to respond to spiking immigrant numbers. It is unclear if any Senate Democrats would accept the Republican leader’s proposal.
The report comes as Scott met with Trump on Sunday at his Mar-a-Lago home to coordinate plans to win back the Senate majority in the 2022 midterm elections. Scott’s amnesty proposal presumably did not come up, so it is unclear how the immigration hawk former president feels about it.
Scott sought to convince the former president to support the NRSC’s candidates in the midterm elections, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) who voted to impeach Trump during his Senate trial following the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol building riots.
“I want to be an additive, I want us all to row the boats in the same direction,” Scott said. “My goal is to tell [Trump] what I’m doing. I’ve talked to him, and he tells me he wants to be helpful to me. He’s committed to Republicans taking back a majority in the U.S. Senate.”
Trump has not changed his mind on the Alaska senator.
“I will not be endorsing, under any circumstances, the failed candidate from the great State of Alaska, Lisa Murkowski,” Trump said in a statement. “She represents her state badly and her country even worse. I do not know where other people will be next year, but I know where I will be — in Alaska campaigning against a disloyal and very bad Senator.”
