Last February, back when the fate of the Democratic presidential primary was still uncertain, the journalist Jorge Ramos coaxed from Joe Biden a sentiment he was not in the habit of expressing: regret for the actions of his former boss Barack Obama.
Ramos was questioning Biden about the Obama administration’s immigration legacy, which includes the deportation of more than three million undocumented immigrants, an estimated 1.7 million of whom had no criminal record. “We took far too long to get it right,” Biden said of the administration’s early failure to focus only on those who had committed crimes. “I think it was a big mistake.”
On his first day as president, Biden took an extraordinary step toward remedying that mistake: Mere hours after he was sworn in on Wednesday, he not only revoked a Trump executive order that aggressively targeted undocumented immigrants for arrest, but also sent a sweeping proposal to Congress that promised, after four years of an explicitly anti-immigration administration, “to restore humanity and American values to our immigration system.” What would this restoration look like, and can it succeed? Here’s what people are saying.
Inside Biden’s plan
Named the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, Biden’s plan, if made law, would be the most comprehensive immigration reform since the Reagan administration. Here are some of its key provisions:
An eight-year pathway to citizenship: The bill would allow the estimated 10.5 million undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States on or before Jan. 1, 2021, to immediately apply for temporary legal status. (Current holders of temporary protected status, farmworkers and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients would be able to apply for green cards immediately.) After five years, provided they pass background checks and pay their taxes, those with temporary status would be eligible for green cards, and after another three years, citizenship.
An overhaul of the family- and jobs-based immigration system: The bill promises to make it easier for family-based immigration — which was drastically curtailed under the Trump administration — by clearing backlogs, increasing per-country visa quotas and eliminating the so-called three- and 10-year bars that prohibit undocumented immigrants who leave the country from returning. At the same time, the plan promises to make it easier for high-skilled foreign workers to immigrate to and stay in the country.
Labor protections: The bill calls for the establishment of a commission involving labor, employer and civil rights organizations to strengthen protections from deportation for undocumented workers who face workplace retaliation and labor violations.
A plan to address the underlying causes of immigration from Central America: The bill would establish a $4 billion program to assist El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras in mitigating poverty, crime and other conditions that drive people to flee their home countries, as thousands are now doing.
A reformed immigration court system: The bill promises to reduce immigration court backlogs — which number some 1.3 million cases — expand family case management programs and improve technology for immigration courts.
More investment in border security: Biden would build on his predecessor’s funding for immigration enforcement by authorizing record budget allocations to the Department of Homeland Security, with an emphasis on investing in screening technologies for drug smuggling and other forms of criminal activity instead of a physical border wall.
An improved asylum system: Throughout his presidency, Trump drew attention to the frequent mobilization of large groups of Central American migrants seeking refuge in the United States to restrict the right of foreigners to claim asylum. Biden’s plan would ease these restrictions while expediting and improving the asylum application process at ports of entry.
The New York Times