The new president of the United States, Joe Biden, sent an immigration bill to Congress on Wednesday that would seek that some 11 million undocumented immigrants who are currently in that country acquire citizenship.
This comprehensive plan also seeks to address the cause of migration from Central American countries and help them deal with this problem. Likewise, it aims to improve the use of technology and increase resources for border control with Mexico. This was revealed to ‘CNN’ by a source with knowledge of the proposal.
Contrary to the anti-immigration actions that characterized the four-year term of Donald Trump, Biden promised from his campaign that immigration reform would be a priority in his administration.
He also committed to the revision of some 400 ordinances with which his predecessor restricted asylum, detained tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants and made the processing of legal residency visas and the acquisition of U.S. citizenship more complex and expensive. .
Biden has come under pressure from immigration groups who are concerned that the deportation that occurred during Barak Obama’s term will also be a constant in his administration.
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Path to citizenship
The main pillar of the proposal is that certain undocumented immigrants can obtain US citizenship in a period of eight years.
Temporary legal status would be granted to undocumented immigrants who entered the country before January 1, 2021 and have been in the United States for at least five years. This first requirement seeks to avoid any massive migration to the border with Mexico.
After this period of time, they would be allowed to apply for permanent residence, better known as a ‘green card’. After three years and after meeting certain requirements, they could apply for citizenship.
“It will try to create a path for people to obtain citizenship. We are going to reduce the time from what is currently 13 years to 8 years, “said Vice President Kamala Harris in an interview with” Univision. “
Permanent legal residence to Dhaka beneficiaries
The plan also seeks to simplify the process for beneficiaries of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) to obtain legal residency. Similarly, so-called “dreamers” would be allowed to apply for residency immediately.
“We are going to expand protections for ‘dreamers’ and beneficiaries of’ Dhaka,” Harris said. “These are some of the things that we are going to do on our immigration bill. And we believe that it is a more intelligent and humane way of approaching the subject ”, she completed.
End of Trump’s immigration policies
Biden will begin the reunification process for families separated at the US-Mexico border within his first ten days in office. Some 600 boys and girls who are currently in government custody are expected to be reunited with their families.
He will also order the suspension of the measure that led to the separation of some 5,000 minors from their migrant parents between 2017 and 2018.
On the other hand, it will issue a decree to stop the construction of the border wall with Mexico that Trump promised, to prevent the arrival of undocumented immigrants.
The plan seeks to reallocate the resources of this work to improve the operation of customs posts and the use of technology. At the same time, it aims to acquire more personnel to combat the smuggling of people and drugs at the borders.
In the same way, the aim is to cancel the Protocol for the Protection of Migrants (MPP, for its acronym in English). This policy of the Trump Administration was the reason why tens of thousands of people who arrived at the US border requesting asylum have been returned to Mexico and Central America while they await a response to their procedures.
Help to Central America
Joe Biden’s plan seeks to attack the root cause of mass migration from Central American countries.
For this reason, together with the Governments of Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, Biden will allocate resources to address the economic and social causes for which millions of people decide to migrate illegally with the hope of a better life in the United States.
