Joe Biden will present on his first day at the White House a migration bill that will detail
"a path to naturalization"
for illegal immigrants, said Tuesday his potential Minister of Homeland Security.
Read also: "Can Joe Biden heal the wounds of the United States and restore harmony?"
The president-elect
“pledged to present to Congress, from day one, a reform (...) to repair our failing migration system and he spoke of the need for a path to citizenship for those present for many years. years in our country, ”
said Alejandro Mayorkas during a Senate hearing.
About ten million undocumented foreigners live in the United States, it is estimated, but Alejandro Mayorkas did not specify how many people could be affected by the reform, or its outlines.
The bill provides, according to anonymous sources cited by the
Washington Post
, that all undocumented migrants present on December 31, 2020 on American soil can, after a period of five years, be regularized provided they meet certain conditions, including the payment of their taxes.
After three more years, they could apply to be naturalized.
The text envisages an accelerated procedure for certain categories of migrants, including the “Dreamers”, some 700,000 young adults who entered the United States illegally during their childhood and who have lived there ever since.
Alejandro Mayorkas, who was Deputy Minister of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama, had implemented the DACA program intended to protect these "Dreamers" from deportation.
But Donald Trump, who had made the fight against illegal immigration one of the markers of his presidency, canceled it in 2017, opening a period of great uncertainty for these young people.
During his campaign, Democrat Joe Biden had promised to reinstate it on January 20, and to cancel the same day an emblematic decree of his predecessor which prohibits nationals of several countries, mostly Muslims, from entering the United States.
Alejandro Mayorkas has confirmed that the new administration will make a 180-degree turn on other key Donald Trump migration measures, starting with the construction of a wall on the southern border, which will not be continued.
However, he refused to specify what would happen to the sections erected.
If confirmed in his post, this son of Cuban refugees, who arrived as an infant in the United States, will be the first Hispanic to lead this sprawling ministry that oversees immigration issues, border police but also response to emergency situations. 'emergency.
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