President-Elect Joe Biden’s Immigration Plans
November 22, 2020
Policy Overview
President Elect, Joe Biden has hefty goals for immigration reform and policies. After election, he seeks to undo much of the Trump Administration’s initiatives and policies he found to be detrimental to our core values. On his first day in office, Biden pledges to make DACA permanent and provide a road map to citizenship for people illegally living in the US within his first 100 days. Biden plans to end construction on Trump’s border wall immediately, raise the cap of refugees admitted to 125,000 in 2021, eliminate the practice of separating families at the border, and end the current travel bans on certain Muslim-majority countries.
Biden proposes a high-tech approach to the US border rather than a physical barrier. He wants to enlist the cooperation of a network of organizations, non-governmental organizations, legal non-profits, and refugee assistance agencies to assess the humanitarian needs of migrants. He seeks to expand existing opportunities for immigrants who served in the US Armed Forces, immigrants already residing in the US, and for expanded legal immigration through family-, work-, and humanitarian-based visas. Through these efforts, Biden aims to modernize the American immigration system and uphold its status as a global beacon of freedom and asylum.
Engagement Resources
- The National Immigration Law Center: an organization that exclusively dedicates itself to defending and furthering the rights of low income immigrants and strives to educate decision makers on the impacts and effects of their policies on this overlooked part of the population.
- Border Network for Human Rights: network to engage education, organization and participation of border communities to defend human rights and work towards a society where everyone is equal in rights and dignity.
- World Health Organization: the WHO provides updated information surrounding COVID-19 and global responses
- Center for Disease Control: the CDC provides updated information surrounding COVID-19 and the US responses