Biden’s Immigration Policy: Foreigners Hello

(CNN Español) – One of the first immigration policies of the President of the United States, Joe Biden, was to achieve greater openness toward immigrants and, in general, to welcoming foreigners.

One of his goals is to increase the number of refugees the country receives, which has been reduced during the Donald Trump administration. For fiscal year 2021, which runs from October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021, an admission limit of 15,000 refugees has been imposed, which is well below the country’s historically high numbers.

During his presidential campaign, Biden spoke of increasing that amount to 125,000 a year. The president has already signed some Immigration decrees Several are expected, reflecting his government’s greater openness to foreigners.

Esther Olavaria, deputy director of the National Council for Immigration Policy at the White House, set the goal of the refugee decree at the recent National Mayors’ Winter Conference.

The goal, according to Olavaria, is “to restore the refugee admission program and allow the United States to return to its historic role as leader and refugee protector.”

Biden is also expected to sign several decrees related to immigrants seeking to reach the United States through the asylum system.

Biden immigration procedures so far

Two weeks ago, the Department of Homeland Security ended new registrations for the “Stay in Mexico” program, a policy the Trump administration celebrated its second anniversary last Friday.

Regulations require non-Mexican immigrants seeking asylum to wait in Mexico for the hearing in the United States. This has resulted, among other things, in the creation of camps in conditions that were not always ideal on the other side of the border.

The White House said the government would provide an effective and fair asylum program, although it did not disclose details.

Biden will seek upcoming decisions to protect immigrants close to their homes Through the asylum system in neighboring countries.

It would also implement a refugee admission program for immigrants from the region and allow some at-risk youth from Central America to live in the United States, a policy that Trump, among others, has rescinded.

According to Olavaria, Biden will also sign an executive order that ends other questionable measures of the Trump administration, including those that make it difficult for low-income immigrants or those in need of federal assistance, such as food stamps or Medicaid, to obtain legal status. in the country.

First Lady Jill Biden is expected to be actively involved in implementing the immigration policy, particularly in the family reunification of the more than 600 immigrant children who remain separated from their parents.