New York lawmakers joined with activists in a last-ditch push Tuesday to include a pathway to citizenship in the president’s sweeping social spending and climate investment bill — an effort which has already hit a major roadblock, courtesy of the U.S. Senate’s unelected rule keeper.

What You Need To Know

  • Several New York Democrats argue the House version of the Build Back Better Act does not go big enough on immigration. They want a pathway to citizenship.

  • The House-backed version of the bill would create new protections from deportations for many of those in the country illegally, but only on a temporary basis

  • The Senate parliamentarian has already rejected including a pathway to citizenship in the bill, and it is unclear that she will approve the House-backed reforms

  • Several NYers are urging the Senate to override the parliamentarian — a move not without precedent, but a steep ask in the evenly split chamber

Reps. Adriano Espaillat, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jamaal Bowman, Mondaire Jones and others took part in a rally on Capitol Hill, arguing now is the time to go big on immigration reform.

“This is our moment,” Ocasio-Cortez said during the event, which also included activists from New York and other parts of the country.

“For far too long, we have been loyal soldiers of our party,” said Espaillat, who is the first formerly undocumented immigrant to serve in Congress.

The group of progressive House Democrats argue the House-passed version of the Build Back Better plan does not go far enough. It would create new protections from deportations for many of those in the country illegally, but only on a temporary basis.

It remains unclear if the Senate parliamentarian, the chamber's unelected interpreter of the rules, will even approve keeping those changes in the final bill.

The parliamentarian has already rejected including a pathway to citizenship in the bill, to the frustration of several New York House Democrats, who argue the Senate should just bypass the parliamentarian and go ahead with the larger reforms anyway.

“Don’t let anyone tell you that the moment is gone, that the possibility has gone away, that the opportunity is not here, because that is not true,” Ocasio-Cortez told the crowd gathered near the Capitol. “We have that opportunity right now. And that opportunity is standing right there on the Senate side.”

Leaders have overridden the parliamentarian before. And Senate Republicans even fired one two decades ago.

However, those are extraordinary steps, especially in the evenly split Senate where at least one Democrat has already dismissed the idea of overriding the parliamentarian.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer has said he aims to pass the legislation before Christmas.

The push for an immigration overhaul in Washington comes as, in New York City, the City Council is poised to allow some noncitizens to vote in municipal elections.

Espaillat and Bowman, two of the participants in Tuesday’s rally, say they support extending that opportunity.

“Those are people who pay taxes. They contribute to the livelihood of New York City,” Espaillat said.

“People are coming to this country for an opportunity, and they are contributing to our country, whether its education, economy, or other areas,” Bowman said. "They should have a right to participate fully in our democracy."