Senator Jim Banks pushes seven immigration bills ahead of midterms

Senator Jim Banks told lawmakers that a seven-bill immigration package must be taken up now to preserve Republican-led reforms before the next election cycle. He warned that a future Democratic-controlled Senate could reverse policies such as birthright citizenship restrictions and tighter visa rules. The centerpiece, the Dalilah Law, is named after a first-grader injured in a crash involving an undocumented truck driver and would prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving commercial driver’s licenses, revoke certain existing permits and require English-only driving tests.

Other components aim to give Congress authority over Temporary Protected Status, raise the minimum salary for many H-1B visas from $60,000 to $150,000, and allocate more defense funds for border security. Banks also seeks to limit chain migration and target federal grants to colleges employing undocumented workers. He presented the suite as “common-sense” legislation to deliver tangible results to voters ahead of the midterms.