House Passes Updated HEROES Act Amnesty

The Democrat-led House of Representatives led another effort to pass partisan COVID-19 economic stimulus legislation. In May, the House passed the HEROES Act, a multi-trillion dollar stimulus package that protected illegal aliens from immigration enforcement, shielded employers that hired illegal aliens from punishment, and gave illegal aliens stimulus checks. That FAIR-opposed bill passed by a vote of 208-199.

In an effort to protect some vulnerable Democratic members, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) spearheaded the reintroduction of an updated version of the HEROES Act. Although the bill is slightly tweaked, it is still a partisan messaging bill and in no way sought input from Republican members in the House. This updated HEROES Act has all of the same amnesty provisions as the one passed in May, with a few additional measures. The House passed this updated amnesty bill by a vote of 214-207 on October 1. Alongside every Republican, 18 Democrats and 1 independent voted against this partisan legislation.

This bill would still grant a de facto amnesty to illegal aliens working in “essential” industries, give them stimulus checks, release nearly everyone detained by ICE, and expand some forms of legal immigration. It also prevents the Department of Justice from restricting federal grants to sanctuary cities. In addition to the original bill’s issues, it adds some new funding-related additions to address Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) fiscal issues related to their fee-funding model.

As with the first iteration of this bill, the HEROES Act has no chance of becoming law after passage. The GOP-controlled Senate will ignore this bill, with many Republican senators saying they would not support any additional stimulus packages. Nevertheless, this bill highlights the priorities of the House’s Democratic leadership and indicates how far they are willing to go to shield illegal aliens from the consequences of unlawful presence.