Overview

• Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Zoe Lofgren filed companion legislation on July 25 to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act’s registry provision with a seven-year continuous residency requirement.
• The proposal would scrap the January 1, 1972 cutoff and allow DACA recipients, TPS holders and other long-term undocumented immigrants to apply for permanent resident status.
• Congressional estimates suggest roughly 8 million immigrants with no serious criminal records could gain eligibility under the revised registry rule.
• Supporters describe the update as a commonsense, bipartisan-style fix modeled on past registry changes and a countermeasure to aggressive enforcement under President Trump.
• With Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress and anticipated White House resistance, the measures face steep challenges to enactment.