Washington. – The administration of the president of U.S, Joe Biden, announced on Wednesday that starting tomorrow it will suspend the inscriptions in the “Stay in Mexico” program, allowing the administration of its predecessor, Donald Trump, to return to the neighboring country to asylum seekers, and clarified that it will maintain restrictions at the border.
The DHS (acronym of the Department of Homeland Security) Announces Suspension of New Registrations in the Migrant Protection Protocols Program (MPP), as that initiative Trump implemented in January 2019 also confessed is responsible for security, immigration and borders, the agency said in a statement.
“However, the current non-essential travel restrictions continue COVID-19, both at the border and in the region, remain in effect at this time. All current MPP participants should remain where they are pending further official information from US government officials, ”the statement said.
It further emphasizes that “people outside the United States are not eligible for legal status under the bill that President Biden sent to Congress today. The legalization provisions in that bill only apply to people already living in the US. “.
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After four years of fierce action against the outgoing president’s immigrants, Donald TrumpBiden’s transition team on Wednesday announced details of the bill that the Democrat is sending to Congress today as part of his pledge to “modernize” the immigration system, known as the “US Citizenship Act of 2021.”
The initiative, to be approved by both legislative chambers, dominated by Democrats, aims to manage and protect the border “responsibly”, “keep families and communities safe, and better manage migration across the hemisphere,” said he.
If passed, Biden’s bill would represent the largest immigration reform since the government of Republican Ronald Reagan (1981-1989), which legalized 3 million undocumented immigrants in 1986.
For good reason, and as the name suggests, the key point is to provide a path to citizenship in 8 years for the 11 million undocumented immigrants estimated to live in the United States.
Immigrants will be able to obtain temporary legal status that allows them to obtain a residence permit (‘green card’ or green card) 5 years later, if they meet a series of requirements, such as not having a criminal record and paying their taxes .
But a significant group of them, the minors who came to the country as children at the hands of their parents, also undocumented and known as “dreamers”, as well as those protected by the Temporary Protected Status (TPS), mainly Central Americans , and immigrant farm workers will be able to pursue “immediate” legal residency and citizenship 3 years later, the note said.
To prevent an influx of immigrants, the bill states that this measure would affect immigrants who “are physically present in the United States on or before January 1, 2021”.
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Those deported during Trump’s presidency since January 20, 2017, and who were physically present for at least three years before being deported, can apply for the same benefit for “ family unity and other humanitarian purposes, ” but that process will depend on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for which Biden has nominated Cuban-American Alejandro Mayorkas.
In his Senate hearing on Monday, Mayorkas pointed out that citizenship will be granted to “individuals who have resided in the country for many years who have contributed to our communities and the economic prosperity of the nation.”
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez announced on Wednesday that he will lead the legislative effort in the Senate to pass this bill and present it to his colleagues to move towards a “fair, humane and functional” immigration system.
The past four years have been traumatic for immigrant communities who have been victims of incessant attacks from the Trump administration. Today we turn the page of this dark chapter in our history and begin the hard work to repair the damage and build a better union that reflects the values of our nation, ”he said.
In the lower house, the bill is sponsored by Spanish congressman Linda Sánchez, who said in a tweet that too much has been waited for this reform, so she has no intention of wasting time “getting to work” to get it . .
From “alien” (foreigner) to non-citizen
One of the changes to the Biden initiative is semantic, but includes a long-standing plea from organizations and activists in favor of immigrants, who have expressed displeasure at associating this community with terms such as “illegal alien”. .
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“The bill recognizes the United States as a nation of immigrants by changing the word ‘foreigner’ to ‘non-citizen’ in our immigration laws,” the statement said.
Another ambition of the law is family reunification, giving special importance to LGBTQ + family groups and also allowing immigrants with approved family support requests to temporarily reunite with their loved ones in the United States while waiting for green cards.
The bill also includes a provision that “prohibits discrimination based on religion and limits the presidential authority to enact future bans” and increases diversity visas from 55,000 to 80,000.
Among his controversial decisions, Trump instituted an immigration veto for the nationals of 11 countries with a significant Muslim population (Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Burma, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Syria) upon arrival at the White House. , Tanzania and Yemen) and that includes restrictions for Venezuela and North Korea.
A “decaffeinated” wall
To try to get the necessary Republican backing in the Senate, Biden also added new resources to the border, setting aside his decision to set aside the construction of the wall on the border with Mexico – the election promise that Trump was half fulfilling. bet on the “technology” to speed up the detection of illegal crossing of goods and narcotics.
The new proposal also aims to allocate resources to improve the “professionalism” of border agents and establish a committee to investigate possible “misconduct”, and aims to care for individuals, families and minors who are under surveillance. customs office and border control. (CBP).
That will enable the new president to fulfill his promise to stop Trump’s star project at the border, even though Biden has no intention of tearing down the part of the barrier already built by the Republican politician and stretching across 727 kilometers from the border area.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said this month it has money to complete an additional 300 miles of wall and planned to award contracts for this before Biden came to power.
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