US President-elect Joe Biden will likely provide citizenship to 11 million undocumented immigrants, including 500,000 Indians. Additionally, it will allow 95,000 refugees annually into the United States, according to News 18.
Family-based immigration and unification will be the government’s priority.
The policy will significantly reduce the family visa backlog. Moreover, the target for global refugee admission is at 125,000 and will be raised with time. The policy said that it would work in tandem with Congress to establish a minimum admission number of 95,000 refugees, including Indians, every year.
“He (Biden) will immediately begin working with Congress to pass legislative immigration reform that modernizes our system, with a priority on keeping families together by providing a roadmap to citizenship for nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants — including more than 500,000 Indians,” the policy document said.
Reinstating the DACA
The Biden government will reinitiate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals will be, as per the policy document. The program will explore all legal options to save the families from inhumane separation from each other. The policy will remove workplace raids permanently. Hence, this will protect the sensitive location of the immigrants.
The DACA was an immigration policy launched by the Obama administration. It allows individuals with unlawful presence in the US after being brought to the country as children to receive a renewable two year period of deferred action from deportation. This makes them eligible to receive work permits in the US.
People refer to DACA recipients as Dreamers. To be eligible for the program, recipients cannot have felonies or serious misdemeanors on their records.
End and restoration
The Trump administration in 2017 chose to end the DACA program. However, the supreme court blocked ending it this year. Trump had pledged to end the program through his Make America Great Again campaign.
Green card
However, the Biden government aims to restoring the DACA program and defending the naturalization process for work-based green cardholders. The green card will allow permanent residency in the US to engage in skilled work.
“He (Biden) will increase the number of visas offered for permanent, work-based immigration based on macroeconomic conditions and exempt from any cap recent graduates of Ph.D. programs in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields,” it said.
Muslim ban
The Biden administration has also promised to repeal the ban on travelers from select Arab countries, mostly Muslims, including people from Iran and Syria. The ban was imposed by Donald trump through a series of executive orders.
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