Joe Biden is making a conscious effort to erase the legacy of Donald Trump. His pro-immigration policies were highlighted during his campaign itself. 2021 will be a year of change for the United States. The US citizenship act of 2021 has been recently announced, a pathway for millions of immigrants in the USA to attain a green card. The immigrant community has long been ill-treated, and their rights haven’t been adequately protected. Joe Biden is passionate about making changes and taking the cause forward. Apart from this, he also removed travel restrictions from Muslim countries, built the US-Mexico wall, and started refugee programs.
Anybody and everybody who seeks a better life wishes to one day be in the USA. It’s the big American dream. Even after residing in the USA for decades, many do not qualify for a green card for their entire life. The new president wants to change that and give immigrants in the USA the right to citizenship. He sees the USA be more diverse and have greater global appeal soon.
A summary of announcements made by the president
The USA is home to more than 11 million immigrants from different nationalities and ethnicities. The US citizenship act of 2021 will integrate immigrants and their families legally into the States. The southern border and its states will receive technical and financial help to facilitate refugees and immigrants’ accommodation. The new resettlement programs and citizenship pathway are a drastic change from the past five years’ anti-immigration policies. Farmworkers, DACA recipients, and people with Temporary Protected Status will be on the fast track for citizenship. At the same time, laymen can attain a green card within eight years. The eight years is divided into two periods of three and five years. The green card is obtained within five years, and the next three are for mandatory background checks.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki declared the president’s plan and vision. The president’s statement this week about new immigrant laws is genuinely path-breaking. The asylum system is also undergoing reforms. The food stamp program for immigrants will again be resumed. In America, nobody is discriminated against. The new policies will be aimed at the upliftment of immigrant and minority communities. The democrats in congress have been long pushing for reforms related to children who had immigrated to the USA. They were mostly un-documented and found it challenging to find jobs despite living in the USA since childhood. Indeed, the republicans are opposing the new changes in congress. The new protections will only increase illegal immigration, they say. They were much happier under the strict and cut-throat approach towards immigrants, followed by Donald Trump.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is something the two sides might agree on. Selling other points in a divided audience will be somewhat challenging, said republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. Biden has previously stated he would be quite flexible. But his end vision is pathway for citizenship for more immigrants. Biden has already signed many executive orders to do away with Trump’s immigration policies as soon as he held the oval office. Among the first ones were stopping the Wall constriction along the southern border, deportation moratorium, and eased travel ban on Muslim nations. It is quite evident that the two Presidents are opposites on the view of US immigration.
The controversy surrounding the new policies
Historically the United States of America has always seen politics on divisive lines. Immigration is one among many of the issues the two parties, Democrats and Republicans, disagree on. Hence such a lenient immigration policy will not be quickly passed. States like Texas and Arizona, which hold Republican majority, are more conservative and do not wish for lenient reforms. They have also gone to court against Biden’s policies. Biden multiplied Trump’s number of 15,000 immigrants in 2021 to 125,000, which will surely be on the rise during his term. The Republicans might not like this in the government. However, Democrats like Sen. Robert Menendez believe that the broken immigration system needs new life. We ought to reunite immigrants with families and help them achieve their American dream.
The immigration reforms will also include border security strategies. Definitely, illegal immigration needs to be dealt with. However, human rights violations shall not be tolerated on any account. Trump supporters in the system, including Lora Ries in homeland security, believe that the new policies are a disaster. The thought of 125,000 immigrants entering the USA only encourages illegal forces to take advantage. The majority of Democrats in House and Senate is marginal. So making Republicans agree on documentation for 11 million immigrants is undoubtedly a challenge. After President Ronald Reagan, Biden would be making history by letting many immigrants gain citizenship.
There are hurdles in the way Biden needs to overcome before changing the USA’s face of immigration. Although he ended many of Trump’s orders, the final order passed during Covid, which allowed border security to send off anybody they detain unfit remains nearly. Many refugee seekers are still turned away or sent to countries like Honduras instead of entering the USA. Biden hopes to break up the new legislation to have better chances. The road towards the implementation of the US citizenship act of 2021 will certainly not be easy.
Such drastic changes need time to be planned as well. The road towards the full achievement of Biden’s vision is long and hard. Indeed, there will be opposing forces trying to sabotage the process. A humane and comprehensive thought-out plan needs to be in place before implementation of the new policies. There must be no loopholes. Trump has still not lifted all bans on asylum seekers brought about in the past. He has a long way to go to achieve the high numbers. The covid 19 pandemics will also shift choice patterns in immigrants. Many factors need to be taken into account while formulating the plans.
PhD Position in Statistics at the University of Basel
