As Trump Escalates Attacks on Immigrants, Padilla Renews Push to Expand Pathways to Lawful Permanent Residency

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As the Trump Administration continues its cruel and systematic attacks on immigrant communities in California and across the country, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, renewed his call to pass his legislation to provide a pathway to lawful permanent residency for millions of long-term U.S. residents. Padilla's bill would provide a commonsense fix to our outdated immigration system to counter President Trump's targeting of long-term undocumented immigrant communities.

Introduced a year ago, Padilla's Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929 would update the existing Registry provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act by adjusting the Registry date to meet current circumstances so that an immigrant may qualify to apply for lawful permanent resident status if they have lived in the U.S. continuously for at least seven years before filing an application, do not have a criminal record, and meet all other current green card eligibility requirements.

"A year ago, I introduced this bill to push back against the Trump Administration's cruel treatment of hardworking immigrants," said Senator Padilla. "Since then, President Trump's campaign of fear has only escalated, with families living under constant uncertainty despite having built their lives in this country. Congress cannot continue to ignore millions of long-term residents who contribute to our economy and communities every day. It's past time to modernize our immigration laws and create a fair pathway to lawful permanent residency."

This long overdue update would provide a much-needed pathway to a green card for more than 8 million people, including Dreamers, forcibly displaced individuals (TPS holders), children of long-term visa holders, essential workers, and highly skilled members of our workforce, such as H-1B visa holders, who have been waiting years for a green card to become available.

Section 249 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, also known as the Registry, gives the Secretary of Homeland Security the discretion to register certain individuals for lawful permanent resident status if they have been in the country since a certain date and meet other requirements. Section 249 was first codified in 1929 and Congress has modified it four times, most recently during the Reagan Administration in 1986. No changes have been made since 1986, and the cutoff date for eligibility remains January 1, 1972 - more than 50 years ago.

Specifically, the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929 would:

• Amend the existing Registry statute by moving the eligibility cutoff date so that an immigrant may qualify for lawful permanent resident status if they have been in the U.S. for at least seven years before filing an application under Registry.
• Preempt the need for further congressional action by making the eligibility cutoff rolling, instead of tying it to a specific date, as it is now.

In addition to Padilla, this bill is co-led by Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and cosponsored by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-18) is leading companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

The bill is endorsed by over 30 organizations, including Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), UNITE HERE, LiUNA!, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, CASA, FIRM Action, African Communities Together (ACT), United Farm Workers (UFW), UFW Foundation, The Southern Border Communities Coalition, Refugees International, the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), NAKASEC Action Fund, National Immigration Law Center (NILC), Quixote Center, Civic Empowerment Coalition, Alianza Americas, FWD.us, The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, the Economic Policy Institute, AFL-CIO, and NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice.

A full list of endorsers is available here.

"Three-quarters of Americans say that the mass deportation agenda goes too far and that immigrant workers deserve a path to citizenship. Senator Padilla is advancing the only solution that makes sense to protect workers and their families from deportation-or worse-and instead create a process for them to apply for permanent residency and the ability to become citizens," said UNITE HERE President Gwen Mills. "The White House's cruel enforcement policies and the push to strip legal statuses like TPS away from American workers and families is endangering whole industries like hospitality and tourism, which threatens the livelihoods of all our members, immigrant and native-born alike. UNITE HERE is proud to support the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929 Act."

"As immigration policy is increasingly used as a political tool to divide and silence workers, America's unions are committed to working with Congress to pursue common-sense pro-worker policies that help lift standards in our workplaces and guarantee equal and enforceable rights for all," said AFL-CIO Director of Government Affairs Jody Calemine. "Work permits are not enough. Only permanent residency and citizenship will ensure that workers have full rights on the job and prevent unscrupulous employers from using the threat of immigration-based retaliation to scare workers into silence. Passing the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929 will offer long-term members of our workforce, our communities, and our unions the more secure future they need and deserve."

Padilla is a leading voice in Congress for providing long-term undocumented immigrants with pathways to citizenship or permanent legal residence. Since the introduction of the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929, he has consistently called for action on commonsense immigration reforms that strengthen communities, protect long-term residents, and unlock America's economic potential.

• Last month, Padilla marked the 14th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy by calling Congress to take immediate action to deliver permanent protections for millions of families, parents, and individuals who are increasingly at risk amid President Trump's mass deportation agenda.
• In May, Padilla visited McAllen, Texas to conduct an oversight visit at the Hidalgo Port of Entry and met with immigrants' rights groups and individuals impacted by the Trump Administration's unprecedented and lawless mass deportation agenda.
• In November, Padilla and Durbin slammed the Administration's unlawful efforts to force states to surrender their voter registration lists to the Department of Justice to build an unauthorized national voter registry and pressure states to remove eligible voters from the rolls.
• Last September, Padilla reintroduced the bipartisan, bicameral America's CHILDREN Act to provide a pathway to citizenship for long-term residents who were brought legally to the United States as children as dependents on their parents' work visas.

Prior to this bill, Padilla introduced the VISIBLE Act to require immigration enforcement officers to display clearly visible identification during public-facing enforcement actions. In 2021, as his first bill in Congress, Padilla introduced the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act, which would create a pathway to citizenship for immigrant essential workers, including Dreamers.

A one-pager on the bill is available here.

Full text of the bill is available here.

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