House to take up immigration reform bills amid border crisis

The House will vote this week to protect undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children and provide legal status to farm workers.

These will be the first immigration reform measures taken up by Congress this year. The votes could serve as the first barometer of the chances for comprehensive immigration reform in this session of Congress.

A bipartisan agreement has remained elusive to lawmakers and presidents of both parties after nearly a decade of half-starts and broken-down negotiations.

Complicating the debate this week is the migrant crisis unfolding at the U.S.-Mexico border, with the Biden administration grappling with an increasing number of unaccompanied children attempting to enter the U.S. The situation has strained the federal government’s resources, forcing the administration to deploy the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the region over the weekend.