President Joe Biden on Immigration

By Anusha Memon

Coming into the 2020 presidential election it was important for Joe Biden to have a strong immigration plan, with the past plans being very controversial. While Trump was in office, he implemented many executive actions in order to limit immigration in America. He set stricter standards, such as restricting legal immigration, reducing the amount of asylum seekers, and the completion of the border wall with Mexico. The strict rules and actions former President Trump put in place was why it was crucial for our following President to have a stronger foundation on their Immigration plans. During his election, Biden mentioned many plans he would enforce once elected into office. His biggest proposal was to allow more immigrants into the US and give legal status to the undocumented and unauthroized immigrants who are already living in the States. This would give millions of immigrants the opportunity to flee the terrorizing circumstances surrounding them.

One of Biden's many plans is to increase Family-Based Immigration. This program allows an individual to receive a green card if a member of their family already has U.S citizenship, or a green card. Family- Based Immigration is one of the most common ways immigrants gain a green card, and Biden’s proposal is to expand it in a variety of ways. Immigrants who come from countries with a large number of applicants often wait years because countries can only issue 7% of green cards annually, which limits the amount of people who can gain citizenship. By increasing the per- country cap to 15%, it will reduce the wait time for immigrants coming from countries with high numbers of applications.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA, was established by former President Obama in 2012, which allowed immigrants who have been living in America for a majority of their lives to gain two-year permits allowing them to live freely and work. This program allowed around 646,000 Dreamers to be protected in America, and be on the path to citizenship. As Biden is in office, he continues to urge Congress to pass legislation allowing Dreamers to be permanent residents immediately, and apply for citizenship after three years. While Trump was in office, he threatened several times to revoke DACA, causing frustration and fear to the members in this program. Although, the US Supreme court reversed the administration's plans in a 5-4 vote, which stopped Former President Trump from dismantling Obama’s original plan. Ever since then, President Biden has put in an immense amount of effort to keep Dreamers in the US, and provide them the opportunity to gain citizenship.

Since President Biden has been in office, he has made countless amounts of efforts in executive actions to increase the amount of immigrants allowed in the country legally. By enforcing his plans it will create a sense of hope to the immigrants who are in desperate need to flee their living situations, and finally allow them to find the better life they have been in search for.