The Well News Quotes Casey Higgins on Possibility of Bipartisan Immigration Reform

Casey Higgins, senior policy advisor at Akin Gump, has been quoted by The Well News in the article “Immigration Advocates Weigh the Potential of Piecemeal Policies.” Higgins was one of the speakers at a recent Bipartisan Policy Center program looking at possible “easy” areas for bipartisan immigration legislation this year.

One of the areas, according to the article, centers on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA. “Even Trump said we have to find a pathway forward here,” said Higgins, a former legislative staffer to former House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Based on past movement on multiple pieces of legislation to address the so-called Dreamers, Higgins said she feels that immigration reform targeted toward the group could show bipartisan success and pave the way for larger policy efforts.

With respect to farmworkers, Higgins said she also sees big potential on an agriculture guest workforce bill “because it was negotiated out to find a bipartisan solution.”

As for President Biden’s proposed immigration reform bill, Higgins believes it more likely acts as a marker for the administration, offering a starting point for negotiations. “There are provisions [in Biden’s proposal] that would give even some Democrats heartburn,” she said.

“True comprehensive immigration reform gives everyone a good reason to vote ’no’ because of how politicized the issues are,” Higgins added. “What we haven’t tried yet is negotiating a bipartisan bill in smaller pieces. Taking different voting coalitions and putting them together to move multiple [smaller] bills [may be] helpful.”