Biden Sends Immigration Bill To Congress, Here's What You Should Know

By Nour Hadiola First Posted: Jan 28, 2021 04:33 AM EST

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President Joe Biden has sent an immigration bill to Congress that proposes major overhauls to the system, including making undocumented immigrant farmworkers immediately eligible for green cards.

Biden Sent an Immigration Bill to Congress

Pres. Biden sent a comprehensive immigration bill to Congress with a provision to grant legal status to over 11 million undocumented people in America.

Biden's proposal allows them to apply for a temporary legal status when they pass the background checks and paying taxes.

According to a published report in Fox News, this bill is expected to have provisions that aim to clear the employment-based and family-based green card backlogs to speed up the process and keep families together during the application process.

Furthermore, the bill would have an 8-year path to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants, which includes a 5-year path to a green card and then a 3-year path to citizenship.

Benefits of the Immigration Bill

The bill is an avenue to reunite families who were forcedly separated during former President Donald Trump's administration. Thus, this would reverse the recent administration's policy.

Retrospectively, during Trump's administration, parents and students who were under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA experienced anxiety when Trump's incendiary anti-immigrant rhetoric and his administration's attempt to rescind DACA, the New York Times reported.

DACA was created during the administration of former president Barack Obama in 2012. Over the years, DACA recipients have enjoyed the protection they deserve. They could go to school, advanced their careers, and some of them get enlisted in the military.

Thus, Biden's bill aims to give back the protection that "Dreamers" and their families deserve. Biden's proposal is perceived as the most ambitious immigration redesign passed since 1986.

Negative Effects of the Bill if it Becomes a Law

Meanwhile, critics say the bill gives an open invitation to all people who would attempt to come to the U.S., alarming some government officials because of the possibility of more drugs entering the country and more crime might occur.

The bill did not include the enhancement of security for the country, and it focuses only on giving eligibility to illegal immigrants. However, it did not hinder the bill from gaining numerous support.

Despite being discriminated against during the Trump administration, being perceived as harmful to the nation, devaluing their contributions, and not counting immigrant families' upward mobility demonstrate, they are still consistent in abiding by the law and giving a significant contribution to the U.S. economy.

Some advocates argued that Americans can now see the importance of immigrants who mostly work despite the pandemic.

Immigration attorney David Leopold said that the ones who stepped up to the plate when most people locked inside their house and put their lives on the line are the undocumented workers. Hence, immigrants contributed to the U.S. in many ways.

Senator Bob Menendez, D-N.J, leads the push to pass the legislation in the Senate. Though he said it is a Herculean task, he is optimistic about pursuing the bill and getting it through Congress.

He believed that passing the bill through Congress would be successful, adding that the partnership of Pres. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are strong enough to get everything done for the country.