The immigration system might change under the Biden administration

The presidential elections of the US were quite close between the current president, Donald Trump, who belongs to the Republican political party and former Vice President Joe Biden (Barack Obama’s term), who belongs to the Democratic political party.

Aside from having a diametrically opposite view regarding multiple sectors of society such as immigration, the economic system, and climate change, the two candidates faced an unprecedented challenge as the US is still the main epicenter of the global Coronavirus pandemic. The number of people infected with COVID-19 grew exponentially in a matter of weeks, the health system collapsed and there is a high shortage of health professionals.

The results revealed that the American population elected the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, as the 46th president of the US. With Biden leading the nation, it is quite possible that multiple sectors of society as we know it will change drastically.

Let’s talk specifically about immigration. This is one of the sectors that generates the most controversy among the American population and Biden’s stance on immigration differs completely from Trump’s. Unlike the current president, the president-elect supports immigration and plans to lift Trump’s restrictive policies, protect vulnerable communities such as asylum seekers currently residing in Mexico, offer different alternatives to foreign workers, and even establish permanent benefits for millions of undocumented immigrants.

The Biden government could intervene in multiple immigration processes

According to a recent Forbes report, the Biden administration could intervene in multiple immigration processes and restructure the local immigration system by revoking Trump’s strict policies and taking into account what past administrations have done in order to definitively improve the immigration sector and protect the human rights of the most vulnerable immigrant communities.

Let’s look at some immigration programs that are key pieces of Biden’s political campaign:

DACA

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an immigration program that has been under constant threat by the Trump administration for the past four years. Broadly speaking, DACA protects immigrants who came to the US as children without legal documentation.

Since it is a benefit that protects undocumented immigrants, the Trump administration has tried to remove it by all possible means.

Regarding this immigration program, the president-elect has openly expressed his intention to keep it active and to offer permanent alternatives for DACA recipients.

TPS

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a humanitarian program that offers protection to immigrants from certain countries, which are going through ongoing armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters and other precarious situations.

The Trump administration has also tried to remove this program from benefits offered to immigrants in the US.

However, the Biden government could expand alternatives available to TPS beneficiaries and offer this protection to other countries affected by internal conflicts such as Venezuela.

The Public Charge Rule

The Biden administration plans to lift the latest version of the Public Charge Rule, which was implemented by the Trump administration.

This policy states that, if immigrants receive public benefits for more than 12 months, in a 36-month period, they will be considered a public charge and will not be able to apply for permanent legal residence or Green Card.

The Biden administration plans to remove this policy mainly because thousands of immigrants avoided seeking medical assistance amid the health crisis for fear of deportation, which increased the sanitary risk in the US.

Request your legal documentation in the US

If you have any questions about an immigration issue or relating to a case you may have currently in progress, then please don’t hesitate to contact us for a FREE Phone Consultation with one of our expert immigration attorneys.

Simply call Motion Law today at: (202) 918-1799.