WASHINGTON – As soon as he takes office as the new president, Joe Biden will send Congress an ambitious immigration reform that includes a way for 11 millions of undocumented access to citizenship, an expansion of the asylum policy and a plan to reinforce border security.
A source of the transition team detailed what are the key points included in the legislative project that Biden will send to the Legislature tomorrow and that, if approved, would mean the largest immigration reform since the government of Republican Ronald Reagan (1981 – 1989 ), which legalized three million undocumented immigrants in 1986.
Also, in his first days in the White House , Biden will sign a round of executive orders aimed at dismantling some of the policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump.
These are the 7 key points of the Biden project:
1- Legalize 11 millions of undocumented
The central objective of the legislative project that Biden will send to Congress tomorrow is to open a way to legalize in eight years the 11 Millions of undocumented immigrants estimated to live in the US, indicated the cited source of the transition team.
The idea is that give a temporary legal status for five years to all immigrants who entered the country before January 1, 2021 and, after that period, Beneficiaries could access a permanent residence, also known as a “green card.”
To access permanent residence, they must prove that they have paid their taxes and have no criminal record.
Once they have access to permanent residence , could apply for US citizenship in just three years.
2- Major beneficiaries: “dreamers” and “Tepesians”
The major beneficiaries of this Biden proposal are two groups: the “dreamers” protected by Deferred Action (DACA ) and “Tepesianos”, those who benefited from Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
If Congress approves Biden’s immigration reform, these two groups, which in total add up to about out of a million people, could directly apply for permanent residence without having to wait five years, like the rest of the undocumented.
3- Expansion of asylum
Likewise, the bill includes a plan to expand asylum policies, as The Washington Post had advanced and confirmed The aforementioned source of the transition team.
The goal is to open centers abroad dedicated to processing asylum applications, which would help to identify potential beneficiaries, before admitting them to the US. USA
4- Technology for the border
Biden’s bill will include a plan for the Department of Homeland Security strengthen the border through the use of technology, an approach that former President Barack Obama has already opted for (2009 – 2017), who wanted to deploy drones to identify those who arrive irregularly.
The one chosen by Biden to lead the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, announced this Tuesday that he will use a combination of technology, physical barriers and more border agents to secure the border.
“What I have 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 that he will abandon the Trump project to build a wall with Mexico, but has not detailed if he will tear down the more than 450 miles (720 kilometers) of barrier built in the last four years.
5- Changes in Central America
Another of the central objectives of the initiative that Biden will send tomorrow to Congress will address the violence, corruption and lack of economic opportunities that push millions of Central Americans every year to embark on a dangerous path to the US in search of refuge.
To provoke changes in the countries of the Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala), Biden relies on the diplomatic power of Washington.
In addition, he wants reinstate a program canceled by Trump in 2017 that allowed Central American minors to reunite in the US with their family members.
6- Difficult to achieve consensus in Congress
Democratic senator Bob Menéndez, of Cuban origin, acknowledged that passing this legislation “is not going to be easy” because will require some Republican votes in the Senate, but he was confident in Biden’s “leadership” and persuasiveness.
“This is an example where the presidential leadership is going to be important, because a president who picks up the phone and invites Republican members to the White House to speak, to convince them on the immigration issue, I believe that this is essential to be successful, “he said.
Menéndez was part of the bipartisan team of eight senators that played a central role so that in 2013 the Senate approved a reform, in What seemed like an important advance to change the country’s immigration system, but which stagnated in the House of Representatives, then dominated by Republicans.
7- DACA, asylum and veto to Muslim countries
On the other hand, without the approval of Congress, Biden plans to sign an executive order tomorrow to terminate with Trump’s veto to the city Adanos from Muslim countries.
In addition, in the following days, he announced that he will do everything possible to reverse the effects of Trump’s policy of separating families at the border and that led to more than 5, immigrant minors losing contact with their parents, of which some 600 have still not been able to reunite with their parents more than two years later.
