IMMIGRATION LAW TO CONGRESS - US CITIZENSHIP ACT OF 2021

Informational page:
President Biden sends an immigration bill to Congress as part of his commitment to modernize our immigration system

The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 establishes a new system to responsibly manage and secure our border, keep our families and communities safe, and better manage migration throughout the hemisphere.

President Biden will send a bill to Congress on day one to restore humanity and American values ​​to our immigration system. The bill provides hardworking people who enrich our communities every day and who have lived here for years, in some cases decades, the opportunity to obtain citizenship. The legislation modernizes our immigration system and prioritizes keeping families together, growing our economy, managing the border responsibly with smart investments, addressing the root causes of migration from Central America, and ensuring that the United States remains a haven for those fleeing. the chasing. The bill will stimulate our economy while ensuring that all workers are protected. The bill creates an earned path to citizenship for our immigrant neighbors, colleagues, parishioners, community leaders, friends.

Create an earned roadmap to citizenship for undocumented people. The bill allows undocumented people to apply for temporary legal status, with the ability to apply for green cards after five years if they pass criminal and national security background checks and pay their taxes. Dreamers, TPS holders, and migrant farm workers who meet specific requirements are eligible for green cards immediately under the legislation. After three years, all green card holders who pass additional background checks and demonstrate knowledge of English and US civics can apply for citizenship. Applicants must be physically present in the United States on or before January 1, 2021. The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may waive the presence requirement for deportees on or after January 20. 2017 who were physically present for at least three years prior to removal for family unity and other humanitarian purposes. Finally, the bill further recognizes the United States as a nation of immigrants by changing the word "alien" to "non-citizen" in our immigration laws.

Keep families together. The bill reforms the family immigration system by eliminating backlogs, reclaiming unused visas, eliminating long wait times, and increasing visa limits by country. It also eliminates the so-called “3- and 10-year bans” and other provisions that separate families. The bill further supports families by more explicitly including permanent partnerships and eliminating discrimination faced by LGBTQ + families. It also provides protection to Filipino orphans, widows, children, and veterans who fought alongside the United States in World War II. Finally, the bill allows immigrants with approved family sponsorship petitions to join their family in the United States temporarily while they wait for green cards to become available.

Accept diversity. The bill includes the NO BAN Act that prohibits discrimination based on religion and limits the presidential authority to issue future bans. The bill also increases diversity visas from 55.000 to 80.000.

Promote the integration and citizenship of immigrants and refugees. The bill provides new funding to state and local governments, private organizations, educational institutions, community organizations, and non-profit organizations to expand programs to promote integration and inclusion, increase English language instruction, and provide assistance to communities. people seeking to become citizens.

Grow our economy. This bill clears employment-based visa delays, recovers unused visas, reduces long wait times, and removes visa limits by country. The bill makes it easier for US college graduates with advanced STEM degrees to stay in the United States; improves access to green cards for workers in sectors with lower wages; and removes other unnecessary obstacles to employment-based green cards. The bill grants dependents of H-1B visa holders work authorization and prevents children from “aging” out of the system. The bill also creates a pilot program to stimulate regional economic development, gives DHS the authority to adjust green cards based on macroeconomic conditions, and incentivizes higher wages for highly qualified non-immigrant visas to avoid competition. unfair to American workers.

Protect workers from exploitation and improve the employment verification process. The bill requires DHS and the Department of Labor to establish a commission involving labor, employer and civil rights organizations to make recommendations to improve the employment verification process. Workers who experience serious labor violations and cooperate with worker protection agencies will have greater access to U visa relief. The bill protects workers who are victims of workplace retaliation from deportation to allow that labor agencies interview these workers. It also protects migrant and seasonal workers, and increases penalties for employers who violate labor laws.
PRIORITIZE SMART BORDER CONTROLS

Complement existing border resources with technology and infrastructure. The legislation builds on record budget allocations for immigration law enforcement by authorizing additional funding for the DHS secretary to develop and implement a plan to implement technology to accelerate detection and improve the ability to identify narcotics and other contraband in each land, air and sea port. input. This includes high-performance scanning technologies to ensure that all commercial and passenger vehicles and freight rail traffic entering the United States through land ports of entry and rail border crossings along the border are subjected to a pre-primary scan. It also authorizes and provides funding for plans to improve infrastructure at ports of entry to improve the ability to process asylum seekers and detect, intercept, interrupt, and prevent the entry of narcotics into the United States. Authorizes the DHS secretary to develop and implement a strategy to manage and secure the southern border between ports of entry that focuses on flexible solutions and technologies that expand the ability to detect illicit activities, evaluate the effectiveness of border security operations, and be easily relocated. and broken down by Border Patrol Sector. To protect privacy, the DHS Inspector General is authorized to conduct oversight to ensure that the technology used effectively serves the legitimate purposes of the agency.

Manage the border and protect border communities. The bill provides funds for training and continuing education to promote the safety and professionalism of officers and officers. It also creates a Border Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee, provides more special agents in the DHS Office of Professional Responsibility to investigate administrative and criminal misconduct, and requires the issuance of department-wide policies governing the use of the strength. The bill directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study the impact of DHS's authority to waive federal, state, and environmental laws to expedite the construction of barriers and roads near US borders. And it provides additional rescue beacons to avoid unnecessary deaths along the border. The bill authorizes and provides funding for DHS, in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and nongovernmental experts.

Crack down on criminal organizations. The bill improves the ability to prosecute people involved in smuggling and trafficking networks who are responsible for the exploitation of migrants. It also expands intelligence investigations, collection and analysis in accordance with the Foreign Narcotics Chiefs Appointment Act to increase sanctions against foreign drug traffickers, their organizations and networks. The bill also requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and DHS, in coordination with the Secretary of State, to improve and expand transnational anti-gang task forces in Central America.
ADDRESS THE ROOT CAUSES OF MIGRATION

Start at the source. The bill codifies and finances the president's four-year, four-billion-dollar interagency plan to address the underlying causes of migration in the region, including increasing assistance to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, conditional on their ability to reduce endemic corruption. violence and poverty that cause people to flee their countries of origin. It also creates safe and legal channels for people to seek protection, including through the establishment of designated processing centers throughout Central America to register and process displaced persons for refugee resettlement and other avenues of legal migration, whether to the United States or other partner countries. The bill also reinstates the Central American minors program to reunite children with the United States.

Improve immigration courts and protect vulnerable people. The bill expands family case management programs, reduces delays in immigration courts, expands training for immigration judges, and improves technology for immigration courts. The bill also restores fairness and balance to our immigration system by providing judges and adjudicators with the discretion to review cases and grant deserving relief. Funding is authorized for legal guidance and counseling programs for children, vulnerable individuals and others when necessary to ensure the fair and efficient resolution of their claims. The bill also provides funding for school districts that educate unaccompanied children, while clarifying the sponsor's responsibilities for such children.

Support asylum seekers and other vulnerable populations. The bill eliminates the one-year deadline for submitting asylum applications and provides funds to reduce delays in asylum applications. It also increases protections for applicants for U visas, T visas, and VAWA, even increasing the limit for U visas from 10,000 to 30,000. The bill also expands protections for foreigners helping US troops.