The president-elect, Joe Biden, plans to implement from his first day in office a series of executive orders that would annul the strict immigration policies of the Donald Trump Administration, such as the immigration veto and the blockade to request asylum.
To this would be added profound immigration reform that will grant
immediate
green cards
to beneficiaries of the DACA and TPS program.
[These immigrants detained by ICE risked their health and suffered retaliation]
The text of the legislative package has not yet been made public, but activists and authorities who know it have revealed some of the main points that it would include.
Citizenship for undocumented immigrants
On his first day in office, the president-elect will announce immigration legislation that, among other things, will offer an eight-year path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.
Although most details are unknown,
undocumented immigrants who live in the country and do not have legal status are expected to be eligible for permanent residence after five years
, and to be able to apply for citizenship after three years. plus.
In the eight-year plan, immigrants would enter a temporary protected status in the first five years that would later allow them to apply for a permanent residence card, as
long as they meet certain requirements such as having paid taxes and not having a criminal record
.
"This truly represents a historic shift from Trump's anti-immigrant agenda, recognizing that all undocumented immigrants currently in the United States should be put on a path to citizenship,"
Marielena Hincapie
told
The Associated Press
news agency
, executive director of the National Center for Immigrant Justice, who was briefed on the legislation.
The law would be one of the largest efforts to grant legal status to undocumented immigrants since 1986, when President Ronald Reagan granted citizenship to nearly 3 million people.
Albert Baraka celebrates with his sister and mother obtaining citizenship in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
AP
Benefits for those with DACA
Biden's deep immigration reform will grant
immediate
green cards
to the beneficiaries of the DACA and TPS program, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris told Univision this weekend.
However, it is not clear when or how that promise will be fulfilled.
The new government will "acknowledge and thank the more than 200,000
Dreamers
who have been critical workers during the COVID-19 pandemic," Harris said.
In addition,
the new Administration will extend the DACA program
, which was under attack by the Trump
administration, for four more years
.
In early December, a federal judge in New York ordered that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, be fully restored.
DACA activists in front of the Supreme Court, Nov. 12, 2019. AP
Opening of the asylum application at the border
Since his campaign, Biden has pledged to eliminate the
Stay in Mexico
(Migrant Protection Protocols) protocol, which forces asylum seekers to remain in dangerous states in Mexico while they await the resolution of their cases before immigration courts in the United States. United.
According to the Syracuse University TRAC project, more than 69,000 asylum seekers have been turned away at the border and subject to the 'Stay in Mexico' program.
Despite being one of his main promises, the president-elect may take time to fulfill it.
"The timeline is to make it so that we actually do it better and not worse," Biden said in December, according to The Washington Post.
"It will probably take the next six months to implement it
.
"
How long could it take?
It is not clear how quickly the measures could be implemented
that he has promised.
Priority issues, such as the health and economic crises, as well as the difficulty in reversing the strict policies implemented by Trump, could delay the changes he raises.
Something similar happened with President Barack Obama, who did not present his promised immigration reform until the second term.
Past efforts to reform immigration policy failed in 2007 and 2013.
According to Domingo García, former president of the League of Latin American Citizens, Biden said in a phone call with several activists that Trump's impeachment in the Senate could delay the discussion of immigration reform
beyond the first 100 days
of the new Administration.
For immigration reform to be successful in a divided Congress,
the strategy will be to pass small pieces of legislation
that will serve as the basis for a larger legislative project, Democratic Congressman Raul Ruiz told CBS News.
According to the media, a legislative proposal by Congressman Joaquin Castro would propose that immigrant workers who work in areas considered essential obtain
green cards
(permanent residences) and suspension of deportation while their cases are resolved in the immigration courts.
[Biden reiterates his promise to fight for a "just and humane" immigration system]
Although activists celebrated the immigration reform proposal as progressive, they insist that
immigration must be a priority despite the other challenges
the Biden Administration will face.
"We make it very clear, all of us collectively, that because it is a new Administration and the Senate and the House will be under the control of the same party, that they need to address immigration," said Ramiro Cavazos, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of United States, to CBS News.
"We lost that opportunity under President Obama and clearly, for the past four years, Latinos have been attacked."
Immigration reform will be one of the Biden Administration's greatest challenges
Jan. 18, 202100: 42
Other immigration commitments from the Biden team include:
Stop construction of the border wall.
Suspend deportations for a period of 100 days from the start of your government.
Rescind the migratory veto imposed against citizens of 13 countries, most of them African or Muslim.
With information from The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and CBS News
.
