The Democratic Senator from New Jersey, Robert Menendez, is the legislator in charge of promoting the immigration reform initiative, which has the support of President Joe Biden.
Immigration Reform is one of the priorities of the new administration. Since January 20, the bill has been sent to Congress, pending the approval of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Here are some key points about the new immigration reform:
- The immigration reform seeks to create a new legal status prior to residency , the Lawful Prospective Immigrant (LPI) or Potential Legal Immigrant. That it would last for six years and could be renewed. After five years as LPI, immigrants could apply for permanent residence and three years later apply for citizenship.
- People protected by Temporary Protection Status (TPS), by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or are undocumented agricultural workers, will have priority over other groups, and it will not be necessary for them to process LPI, since they will be able to request direct permanent residence. In this way, 11 million people would have a free path to citizenship.
- Family unification is a priority in immigration reform, the proposal has not been fully defined, but indicates that people deported during the last administration and who have lived in the US for at least three years, can return to the country and meet your families.
- Relatives who hope to obtain residency in the country through a relative can wait to complete their process from the US Previously, the wait had to be in their country of origin.
- Eliminate discriminatory references against immigrants The reform plans to stop using the word "alien" to refer to foreigners, to use the term "non-citizen."
- The reform provides benefits to qualified foreign workers, for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
- Through the reform, immigration processes would be modified so that minors are not separated from their families upon entering the United States.
- Security policies on the border line will change, as new projects are not approved to continue construction.
- To avoid massive migration from Central America to the United States, they will seek job creation and fight organized crime.
- The creation of refuge centers in Central American countries would be a reality.
