Sen. Alex Padilla introduces immigration legislation to expand pathway for legalization, citizenship
California Sen. Alex Padilla introduced legislation to help expand the existing pathway to help immigrants obtain legalization in the U.S.
At a news conference Friday morning, Padilla announced he was introducing legislation to allow undocumented individuals who have been in the U.S. for seven or more years, have paid their taxes, have contributed to their communities and have no criminal record a more accessible pathway to become lawful permanent residents.
Padilla said his bill is aimed at protecting long-term residents and strengthening immigrant communities.
"Our new bill is simple and makes common sense," Padilla said. "The United States of America is not the United States of America without immigrants."
Padilla, joined by community leaders, said they hope to update the current cutoff date of the existing Immigration Act of 1929, known as the "Registry Bill." Padilla explained that the last time the law was updated was in 1986 under the Reagan administration.
The law currently says that if an immigrant has lived in the U.S. since Jan. 1, 1972, they may apply for and obtain a green card.
Padilla said he knows it will take a lot of work to get the bill passed, but believes now is the perfect time for it to be updated.
Padilla, who is from Pacoima, is a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee. He has been an outspoken opponent of President Trump's immigration crackdown taking place across Southern California and the country.
In June, Padilla was forcibly removed from a news conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was providing an update about immigration operations and protests.
Video from the incident showed Noem describing what she called the "burdensome leadership" of California's governor and the mayor of LA, when Padilla interrupted her and attempted to ask a question.
He was forcibly removed from the room, forced to the ground, handcuffed, but was not detained or arrested.
Noem told reporters afterward that she "wished that [Padilla] would have reached out and identified himself and let us know who he was and that he wanted to talk."
