WASHINGTON, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed an immigration bill that could offer path to citizenship to undocumented immigrants in defiance of U.S. President Donald Trump's opposition.
The 237-187 vote was largely along party lines with only seven Republican lawmakers joining their Democratic counterparts in supporting the bill.
According to the bill, qualified recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program -- also known as "Dreamers" -- will be eligible for a 10-year-long legal residence status.
In addition, they can obtain a permanent green card if they spend two years in higher education or military, or three years in a job.
If passed, the bill would put about 2 million qualified Dreamers, people brought to the United States illegally when they were young, on a path to U.S. citizenship.
However, the bill was unlikely to be considered in the Republican-controlled Senate.
In late 2017, Trump scrapped the program, leaving fates of roughly 11 million Dreamers in limbo.
As U.S. public opinion on the issue remains polarized, Republicans and Democrats in the Congress had so far failed to break the stalemate regarding the future of the Dreamers.
