Elections 2020: Immigration Consequences of Electing Joe Biden

I know you are aware there is an election taking place on November 3, 2020. In this post, I will analyze the major parties’ immigration plans and give you the good bad, and ugly about the immigration consequences of reelecting President Donald Trump and electing Joe Biden. In this post, I ill discuss the immigration consequences of electing Joe Biden as president.

Biden’s Immigration  Plan

Now, I will discuss Biden’s plan to improve the immigration system. I will discuss the plan point by point. Boden has plans for the first 100 days and then after.

In the first 100 days, Biden promises the following:

• Reverse the Trump Administration’s policies that separate parents from their children at our border
• End Trump’s asylum policies
• End the mismanagement of the asylum system
• Surge humanitarian resources to the border and foster public-private initiatives
• End prolonged detention
• Reverse Trump’s public charge rule
• End the so-called National Emergency that siphons federal dollars from the Department of Defense to build a wall
• Protect Dreamers and their families
• Rescind the un-American travel and refugee bans
• Order an immediate review of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for vulnerable populations
• Restore sensible enforcement priorities
• Ensure that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel abide by professional standards and are held accountable for inhumane treatment
• Protect and expand opportunities for people who risked their lives in military service
• Restore and defend the naturalization process for green cardholders
• Revitalize the Task Force on New Americans and boost our economy by prioritizing integration, promoting immigrant entrepreneurship, increasing access to language instruction, and promoting civic engagement
• Hold a meeting of leaders, including from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Canada, to address factors leading to migration from these countries

Source https://joebiden.com/immigration/

My analysis: this 100-day plan reverses much of President Trump’s policies established during the last 4 years. These policies were mostly created by executive orders, which will allow Biden, if elected, to reverse them by the same method.

Beyond the 100 days plan, the Biden Administration will institute the following:

Modernizing America’s Immigration System

This part of Biden’s plan calls for significant reforms in the current immigration system. These reforms include changes to employment-based and family-based immigration. It also calls for the preservation of the diversity lottery preference.

Create a roadmap to citizenship for undocumented immigrants:

This part of the plan calls for a path to citizenship to the undocumented population in the United States. Biden highlights the family relationships these immigrants have created in the country. He also highlights the fact that many of these immigrants have paid taxes to the treasury, even without social security numbers. The plan states that you must pay taxes and pass a background check for undocumented immigrants to be included in the plan.

My analysis: Many will call this plan amnesty, with which I disagree. I represent these undocumented immigrants in the immigration system. Most of them are hardworking and pay taxes, even without hope of getting anything back. Allowing them to stay in the United States and requiring payment of taxes would help us decrease the deficit and secure the futures of these immigrant families.

Reform temporary visa programs for workers in select industries:

This part of the plan calls for reform in the temporary worker program (H2-B). The plan calls for reform to quell the use of undocumented workers in the United States. The plan mandates that employers certify the shortage of American workers in their industries and the need for foreign workers to help that shortage.  In addition, the program calls for employers to pay a fair wage and ensure the right of workers to join a union. This part of the plan calls for reforms in the H-1B system. The reason for these reforms, according to Biden, is to allow highly skilled workers to remain in the United States. This plan also calls for wage reforms which would change the low level of wages they currently receive.

My analysis: I have represented many workers who have come here using the H2-B system. This system is highly dysfunctional with the current visa numbers not meeting the needs of the market. The country limitations also hinder the program and incentivize employers to hire undocumented labor. I have seen too man of these workers trafficked and abused by these employers.  The proposed reforms will help employers and employees meet their demands. The current temporary worker system is not working. Congress has placed arbitrary limitations on the number of available visas, which run out mere days after the door opens. I have also been in the system, which forced me to remain with the same employer no matter the wage I received. Reforms are highly needed.

Reject the False Choice Between Employment-Based and Family-Based Immigration:

This part of the plan rejects the need for more skilled workers over family-based immigration. The plan calls for a reversal of the per-country limitations. It also calls for temporary non-immigrant visas for family members with approved immigrant visa petitions. These visas allow relatives to remain in the United States until their permanent residence is approved. The plan also calls for immediate relative status for relatives of permanent residents.

My Analysis: This part of the plan is highly needed. As I mentioned before, the per country and the lack of immediate relative status for relatives of permanent residents create the huge backlog we have today. The temporary non-immigrant status was also used by the Clinton Administration to help these relatives process their immigrant visa petitions while in the United States.

Expand Protections for Undocumented Workers who Report Violations and Increase visas for Domestic Violence Survivors:

The plans call for a continuation of the Obama Administration’s expansion of the U visa program for violations of labor laws and for reducing the processing delays for VAWA self-petitions.

My analysis: I have represented many U visa and VAWA self-petitioners and the delays in the system we have today prolong these victims’ suffering. This reform will help victims deal with an essential burden: their status in the United States.

Reassert America’s Commitment to Asylum Seekers

This part of the plan seeks to reverse the Trump Administration’s detrimental policies towards asylees and refugees. The plan tries to reverse the pitfalls of such policies. The Biden campaign thinks that these policies have exasperated the problem instead of fixing them. The plan calls for the following:

• Surge asylum officers to review cases of recent border crossers
• Restore asylum eligibility for domestic violence survivors
• Apply asylum laws to those fleeing political persecution
• Double the number of immigration judges and staff to deal with more than one million cases in backlog
• End for-profit detention center
• Increase the number of refugees to the United States

My analysis: This part of the plan clearly shows that Biden has a commitment to refugees and asylees. According to Biden, this returns the United States to its roots, and I agree. During the past 4 years, I have seen the detrimental effects of Trump’s policies on refugees and asylees. Biden’s plan seems to solve many of the pitfalls in the current asylum system.

Tackle the Causes of Migration and Implement Effective Border Screening

This part of the plan highlights the significant contributions if immigrants to the United States. The plan says that building a wall from sea to shining sea is not the solution to stopping illegal drugs to the United States. The plan realizes that most illegal trafficking in drugs is coming through legal ports of entry. To fix undocumented migration, the plan calls for investing in new technology, improve collaboration between agencies, and work with Mexico and Canada to fix migration problems.

My analysis: This part of the plan fixes many of the root causes of migration by working with our partners and investing in better technology to fix the border. I support this part of the plan because it does not spend billions of dollars on a wasteful wall.

As you can see from the discussion above, Biden’s plan is much more comprehensive than President Trump’s. Honestly, President Trump’s plan is not a plan.

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• Biden’s “New Green Card” Rule
• 2021 Immigration Reform, DACA, and DAPA
• Elections 2020: Immigration Consequences of Reelecting President Trump
• Immigration-MetLife Legal Plans
• Three Immigration Events to Track in 2015