Biden to Prioritize Paving Path to Legal Status for Millions of Immigrants

One of President-elect Joe Biden's priorities in the early days of his incoming term is to immediately ask Congress to offer legal status to about 11 million immigrants in the country.

This decision from Biden was a surprise to some advocacy groups given that offering legal status to immigrants has been a divisive issue, even within parties, noted The Associated Press.

The move to provide legal status to immigrants was first told to reporters by four people familiar with Biden's plans.

It will give a shorter pathway to citizenship for people on temporary protected status and beneficiaries of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and probably a vast number of immigrant front-line essential workers, noted Los Angeles Times.

It's part of Biden's groundbreaking plans to change immigration rules in the U.S. and something that became exciting news for many immigrants who want to come to the nation.

These plans are the flipside of the current administration's move to shut down the U.S.'s southern border with Mexico and banned several foreigners from coming into the country.

Pace of Biden's Immigration Plans Unknown

Under Biden's immigration plan, immigrants can qualify for permanent legal status after five years of residence and can get citizenship after another three years. It offers a faster citizenship path than any other bills, noted Daily Wire.

It is still unclear how quickly the president-elect can act on his immigration plans, especially with the coronavirus pandemic and the economy, among other priorities of the incoming administration.

Some advocates are worried that these will only be blank promises as when former President Barack Obama pledged that he would put an immigration bill in place during his first year in office but none were made until his second term.

"We got the same promises from Obama, who got elected in '08, and he totally failed," said Domingo Garcia, former president of the League of Latin American Citizens.

"This really does represent a historic shift from Trump's anti-immigrant agenda," said National Immigration Law Center's executive director Marielena Hincapié.

It also represents a departure from earlier immigration bills passed by both Democratic and Republican leaders. In that sense, it does not have any provisions relating to expanded enforcement and security measures, said Hincapié who was consulted by Biden's staffers.

LA Times also confirmed that the new administration doesn't have plans with the "security first" political concessions of past efforts.

The last time a president successfully moved toward granting status to a great number of illegal immigrants was during President Ronald Reagan's term, where some three million people were bestowed amnesty in 1986.

Congress to Get Biden's Plans on Immigration 'On His First Day'

Biden's incoming chief of staff, Ron Klain, said on Saturday that Biden will be sending his proposals to Congress "on his first day in office" but he did not give any more specifics, as did Biden's office.

However, he said the new system will "restore humanity to our immigration system."

The release of Biden's plans came as a migrant caravan from about several thousand people from Honduras approaches the U.S. border.