WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Joe Biden plans to unveil a broad immigration bill on the first day of his administration, hoping to provide an eight-year path to citizenship for about 11 million people living in the U.S. without status. legal, a huge reversal of the Trump administration’s harsh immigration policies.
The legislation puts Biden on the right track to fulfill an important campaign promise for Latin voters and other immigrant communities, after four years of President Donald Trump’s restrictive policies and mass deportations. It provides one of the fastest paths to citizenship for those who have lived without legal status of any measure in recent years, but it does not include the traditional compensation for greater border security favored by many Republicans, making approval in a narrowly divided Congress doubtful. .
Scheduled to take hundreds of pages, the bill is due to be presented after Biden takes the oath of office on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the legislation and who has granted anonymity to discuss it.
As a candidate, Biden called Trump’s actions on immigration a “relentless attack” on American values and said he would “undo the damage” while continuing to maintain border surveillance.
According to the law, those who live in the United States from January 1, 2021, without legal status, would have a five-year path to temporary legal status, or a green card, if they pass background checks, pay taxes and meet other basic requirements. From there, it is a three-year path to naturalization, if they decide to seek citizenship.
For some immigrants, the process would be faster. So-called Dreamers, young people who illegally arrived in the United States as children, as well as farm workers and people with temporary protection status, could qualify more immediately for the green card if they are working, are in school or meet other requirements .
The bill is not as comprehensive as the last major immigration reform proposed when Biden was vice president during the Obama administration.
For example, it does not include a robust border security element, but calls for the presentation of strategies. Nor does it create any new guest workers or other visa programs.
It addresses some of the root causes of migration from Central America to the United States and provides input for the development of the workforce and the learning of the English language.
Biden is expected to take swift executive action to reverse other Trump immigration actions, including an end to the ban on arrivals from several predominantly Muslim countries.
During Democratic primaries, Biden consistently cited immigration action as one of his “first day” priorities, pointing to the range of executive powers he could invoke to reverse Trump’s policies.
Biden’s allies and even some Republicans identified immigration as an important issue on which the new government could find common ground with Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell and other enough Republican senators to avoid the stalemate that troubled both governments. parties for decades.
This kind of big victory – even if it involves compromise – can be critical as Biden seeks legislative victories in a divided Congress, where Republicans will certainly oppose Biden’s other priorities that involve cutting some of the Republican Party’s tax cuts by 2017 and increased federal spending.
As a candidate, Biden went so far as to say that the Obama administration went too far in its aggressive deportations.
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Barrow reported from Wilmington, Del. Associated Press editor Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.