US President Joe Biden on Thursday called for the adoption of the Immigration Reform Act, just tabled in Congress, as soon as possible, as there is an urgent need to bring “justice, humanity and order” back to the US immigration system.
“I am committed to working with the leaders of the House of Representatives and Senate to correct the previous administration’s negligence and restore justice, humanity and order to our immigration system,” Biden said in a statement.
The immigration reform bill that Biden formulated on his first day in power formally arrived in Congress Thursday, converted into a bill promoted by Democratic senator of Cuban descent Bob Menéndez and lawmaker Linda Sánchez, of Mexican descent.
That project, entitled the American Citizenship Act of 2021, is “an important first step in establishing immigration policies that unite families, grow and improve the economy and ensure the security of the country,” the president said.
The ambitious proposal envisions an eight-year process so that the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants can acquire citizenship, in addition to granting immediate legal residence to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children, known as “dreamers”. , the beneficiaries. TPS and agricultural workers.
“This legislation that I have sent to Congress will bring much-needed changes to an immigration system that will need to be reformed for a long time,” Biden stressed.
The president recalled that, in addition to creating a path to citizenship for those undocumented immigrants already in the country, the bill will make it possible to “manage the border (with Mexico) through smart investment” and tackling the root causes of irregular migration from Central America ”.
These are not Democratic or Republican priorities, they are US priorities. I have set out my thoughts on what reforming our immigration system will entail and I look forward to working with leaders in Congress to get the bill passed, Biden concluded.
This is the most ambitious attempt to advance immigration reform since 2013, when then-President Barack Obama’s bill (2009-2017), with Biden as vice president, was wrecked in the House of Representatives despite Senate approval. .
Biden will have a hard time getting Congress to pass his proposal this time, as Democrats have a very small majority in both houses and would need to convince at least ten Republicans in the Senate to allow the bill to go into effect.