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El Capitolio de Estados Unidos al atardecer bajo un cielo anaranjado
El Capitolio de Estados Unidos, sede del Congreso que debería aprobar una eventual reforma migratoria. · Imagen generada por EPM

Mullin opens door to legal status for DACA beneficiaries in Congress

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the administration is willing to work with Congress on immigration reform, without a general amnesty, and…

--- The context --- Immigration policy is back at the center of debate in Washington after the Republican defeat in the midterm elections. In that setting, the administration has begun speaking about dialogue with the opposition and about a possible reform that Congress would have to approve. --- The facts --- Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said on Monday that his administration is willing to work with Congress to pass immigration reform. Mullin leads the department in charge of immigration affairs in the United States and made those remarks to reporters in Maryland. The official specifically mentioned permanent legal status for beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, who arrived in the country irregularly as minors, together with their families. As he explained, it would be up to Congress to examine that program and find a path for those people. --- The positions --- Mullin made clear that he is not willing to grant amnesty to the more than 15 million undocumented migrants living in the country, although he said he is willing to talk about other paths. He also noted that President Donald Trump has urged him to work with Democrats on this issue and to meet with them at some point. A day earlier, Trump said in a television interview that he would love to work with the opposition on immigration, acknowledged that his deportation policy was too harsh, and at the same time defended his work to close the border. The president did not detail a possible agreement, but he trusted that consensus could be found and considered it viable. --- What remains unknown --- There is still no legislative text and no known timetable for that negotiation. It has also not been specified what requirements the status mentioned for childhood arrivals program beneficiaries would carry, or how the rest of the undocumented population would be treated. --- Unanswered questions --- Will the administration present a concrete proposal to Congress or wait for a legislative initiative? What conditions would the permanent legal status proposed for the beneficiaries mentioned carry? Can an agreement advance while the dialogue message coexists with hard-line decisions? --- EPM analysis --- The shift in language comes after a measurable electoral cost. According to a poll, 57 % of voters believe the immigration measures have gone too far, and that perception weighed on the Republican midterm defeat. Even so, last Friday the president named Stephen Miller, an adviser considered the architect of the administration's anti-immigrant policy, as chief of staff, a signal pointing in the opposite direction to the announced opening. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, Mullin's opening deserves attention because it names, for the first time in this debate, a permanent legal outcome for young people who grew up in the country, but it is still only a willingness to talk. With no proposal, no timetable, and an appointment that strengthens the hard line, the announcement counts as a political signal, not as reform. Congress will have the say, and there it will be measured whether the dialogue was real or an adjustment after electoral defeat.
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