In an exclusive interview with Univisión, Kamala Harris said that the immigration reform plan that will be presented by the Biden government before Congress aims to reduce the process for immigrants to apply for citizenship from 13 to 8 years.
Joe Biden’s government to take over the presidency US On January 20, he is preparing to present his immigration reform plan to the Senate, which would benefit 11 million immigrants. As promised by Biden’s campaign, it will be delivered to Congress in the first 100 days of his term.
In an exclusive Univisión interview with Kamala Harris, the elected vice president provided details on what the reform project envisages, which will pave the way for millions of undocumented immigrants living in the United States to become permanent residents and then apply for citizenship. within 8 years.
“We’re going to reduce the time from 13 to 8 years now,” Harris said. He also explained that once the immigrant obtains the Green Card or the permanent resident card, he or she will have to wait five years and then apply for citizenship.
The migration project also includes the beneficiaries Temporary protection program (TPS) and “dreamers” who could automatically get a green card.
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A reform of asylum applications is also proposed. Harris noted that work has been done on a policy that includes legal advice for asylum seekers as well as children arriving at the border.
The Biden and Harris plan also suggests maintaining the unity of immigrant families at the borders and “not dividing them,” a drama that marked President Donald Trump’s administration after implementing the 2018 “zero tolerance” policy that separated more than 2,500 families and that so far many of them could not be found again.
Kamala Harris added that they are confident that they will have bipartisan support in the Senate for approval, although he admits that “it will not be easy”.
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With regard to the Northern Triangle, he stressed that resources would be allocated for the security and peace of families in these countries to prevent them from seeking to emigrate to the United States.
In his initiative for the development of Central America, Biden offered to bet on security, institutionalization, development and the fight against corruption in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, with an investment of 4 million dollars.
The commitment includes ensuring economic growth, strengthening civil society institutions that audit local governments and strengthening the investment capacity of remittance recipients.
In October 2020, the president-elect said the investment would be funded by “realigning money from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) migrant detention budget.