Human Rights First Celebrates the Senate Passage of a Clean Inflation Reduction Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This weekend, the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a historic package that will lower healthcare costs for American families and take much needed action to address climate change. In a hard-won victory, the Senate rejected all of the offered “poison pill” amendments which targeted asylum seekers and immigrants, and the bill now proceeds to the House of Representatives devoid of any provisions that would have threatened passage of the bill and done significant harm to immigrant communities. Human Rights First urges the House of Representatives to follow the Senate’s lead and pass the bill without any harmful anti-immigrant amendments.

“Human Rights First, partners, and all Americans who care about the protection of refugees owe a tremendous debt to many allies in the Senate and in particular, Senators Robert Menendez and Alex Padilla, for their impassioned leadership on these issues and their commitment to hold the line and protect immigrants and asylum seekers from dangerous amendments,” said Michael Breen, President and CEO of Human Rights First.  “The House should pass this bill, so transformational for the United States, without changes to immigration policy that play politics with human lives.”

“We thank Majority Leader Schumer and Whip Durbin for their leadership in ensuring the Inflation Reduction Act doesn’t sacrifice immigrants and asylum seekers to nativist politics,” said Jennifer Quigley, Senior Director of Government Affairs at Human Rights First. “We deeply appreciate Senators Ossoff, Hickenlooper, Bennet, Carper, and others in the Democratic Caucus who stood united in rejecting amendments that would have harmed immigrants and asylum seekers. We are counting on the House to follow their example, and pass a bill that will not undermine our asylum system in order to score political points.”