(San Diego) It surprised President-elect Joe Biden’s decision to immediately demand that Congress provide legal status to the country’s estimated 11 million people, given that the issue has divided Democrats and Republicans for so long, even at home. Of their parties.
Joe Biden will announce a bill on his first day in office to provide a citizenship pathway to the millions of immigrants who live in the United States illegally, according to four people who have seen his plans.
The president-designate launched a campaign to grant citizenship to about 11 million people who live illegally in the United States, but it is not clear how quickly he will act while fighting the Coronavirus pandemic, the economy, and more. Priorities. Advocates for undocumented immigrants remember that presidential candidate Barack Obama promised the immigration bill before his victory in 2009, but did not come to the issue until his second term.
Joe Biden’s plan is a reversal of that of Donald Trump, whose success in the 2016 presidential campaign was based in part on reducing or stopping illegal immigration.
“It really represents a historic change […] Marilena Henkabe, executive director of the National Center for Immigration Law, who was briefed on the bill, said that all illegal immigrants currently in the United States should be placed on the path to citizenship.
If the legislation succeeds, it would be the largest step forward in granting status to illegal persons in the country since President Ronald Reagan granted amnesty to nearly 3 million people in 1986. Legislative efforts failed to review immigration policy in 2007 and 2013.
Ron Klein, Joe Biden’s new chief of staff, said Saturday that the new president will send an immigration bill to Congress “on his first day in office.” He gave no further clarifications, and Joe Biden’s office declined to give details.
Advocates for illegal immigrants were briefed in recent days on the bill’s main lines by Esther Olivaria, deputy director of immigration on the White House Domestic Policy Council.
Domingo Garcia, the former president of the Latin American Citizens’ Association, said that Joe Biden indicated Thursday that Donald Trump’s trial in the Senate may delay consideration of the bill and that it should not be relied upon for adoption within the first 100 days.
“I was pleasantly surprised that he would act quickly because we got the same promises from Barack Obama, who was elected in 2008, but he completely failed,” said Domingo Garcia.
Ali Noorani, head of the National Migration Forum, who was among those briefed on Thursday evening, said migrants would be placed on an eight-year path to citizenship. There will be a faster path for those participating in the DACA program, which protects people from deportation if they arrive in the country as young children. There will also be a faster route for people with Temporary Protection Status (TPS) because they come from conflict-torn countries.
Designated Vice President Kamala Harris made similar remarks in an interview with Univision aired Tuesday, saying that DACA and TPS recipients “will automatically receive green cards” while the others will be on the eight-year path to citizenship.