As soon as he takes office as the new US president, Joe Biden will send Congress an ambitious immigration reform that will include a way for 11 million undocumented migrants to access citizenship, an expansion of asylum policy and a plan to increase border security.
A transition team source detailed to Efe the key points included in the legislative project that Biden will be sending to legislature tomorrow that, if approved, would mark the largest immigration reform since the government of Republican Ronald Reagan (1981- 1989), which legalized three million undocumented immigrants in 1986.
In addition, in his early days in the White House, Biden will sign a series of executive orders to dismantle some of the policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump.
These are the 7 main points of the Biden project:
LEGALIZE 11 MILLION UNDOCUMENTED
The central goal of the legislative project that Biden will be sending to Congress tomorrow is to open a way to legalize within eight years the 11 million undocumented immigrants estimated to reside in the United States, the aforementioned source said. transition team to Efe.
The idea is that all immigrants who entered the country before January 1, 2021 will be granted temporary legal status of five years, and the beneficiaries will have access to permanent residence, also known as a ‘green card’ after that period. .
In order to access permanent residence, they must prove that they have paid their taxes and that they have no criminal record.
Once they have access to permanent residence, they can apply for US citizenship in just three years.
GREAT BENEFICIARIES: THE “DREAMERS” AND “TEPESIANS”
The main beneficiaries of this Biden proposal are two groups: the “dreamers”, the name by which undocumented young people who arrived in the country as minors are known, and the “Tepesianos”, those who benefited from the Temporary Protection Statute. (TPS), an immigration program that Trump has eliminated.
If Congress passes Biden’s immigration reform, those two groups, representing a total of one million people, can apply directly for permanent residency without having to wait five years like the rest of the undocumented.
EXTENSION OF ASYLUM POLICY
Likewise, the bill includes a plan to expand asylum policies, as The Washington Post had advanced and the above-mentioned source of the transition team confirmed to Efe.
The goal is to open centers abroad dedicated to the processing of asylum applications, which can help identify potential beneficiaries before admission to the United States.
TECHNOLOGY FOR THE BORDER
Biden’s legislative project includes a plan for the Department of Homeland Security to strengthen the border through the use of technology, an approach previously adopted by former President Barack Obama (2009-2017), who wanted to deploy drones to identify those who come to them irregularly On.
The one chosen by Biden to lead the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, announced on Tuesday that he will use a combination of technology, physical barriers and more border agents to secure the border.
“What I’ve heard is that we need a more diverse approach to border security,” Mayorkas said during a Senate hearing to decide whether to confirm him in office.
Biden has promised to give up Trump’s project to build a wall with Mexico, but has not specified whether he will tear down the more than 720 miles of barrier built over the past four years.
ROOT CHANGES IN CENTRAL AMERICA
Another of the central goals of the initiative that Biden will be sending to Congress tomorrow is to tackle the violence, corruption and lack of economic opportunity that drive millions of Central Americans every year into the United States on a dangerous road. States to seek refuge.
To bring about change in the countries of the Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala), Biden relies on Washington’s diplomatic power.
In addition, he wants to restore a program that was canceled by Trump in 2017 that would allow Central American minors to meet with their families in the United States.
A DIFFICULT CONSENSUS IN CONGRESS
Speaking with Efe, Democratic Senator Bob Menéndez, of Cuban descent, acknowledged that passing this legislation “will not be easy” as some Republican votes will be needed in the Senate, but he had faith in the “leadership” and the ability to express Biden’s beliefs.
“This is one example where presidential leadership will become important, because a president who answers the phone and invites Republican members to speak to the White House to convince them about the immigration issue, I think that’s essential to be successful. . ” , he claimed.
Menéndez was part of the two-piece team of eight senators that played a central role in getting the Senate to pass a reform in 2013, in what appeared to be a major step to change the country’s immigration system, but which ran aground in the dominated House of Representatives. then by the Republicans.
EXECUTIVE MISSIONS: DACA, ASYLUM AND VETO TO MUSLIM COUNTRIES
On the other hand, without needing Congressional approval, Biden plans to sign an executive order tomorrow to end Trump’s veto against citizens of Muslim countries.
In addition, in the following days it will end the policy of separating families at the border, allow new applications in the DACA immigration program that protects the “ dreamers ” and Trump wanted to stop, and finally he will ask that it is revising the TPS program, which could lead to recovery.