THE BIDEN PLAN TO SECURE OUR VALUES AS A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS

It is a moral failure and a national shame when a father and his little daughter drown searching for our shores. When children are locked up in overcrowded detention centers and the government seeks to keep them there indefinitely. When our government argues in court against giving those children toothbrushes and soap. When President Trump uses family separation as a weapon against desperate mothers, fathers and children seeking safety and a better life. When it threatens massive raids that would divide families who have been in this country for years and targets people in sensitive places like hospitals and schools. When children die in custody for lack of proper care.

Trump has waged a relentless assault on our values ​​and our history as a nation of immigrants.

It's wrong and stops when Joe Biden is elected president.

Unless your ancestors were native to these shores, or forcibly enslaved and brought here as part of our original sin as a nation, most Americans can trace their family history back to a choice: a choice to leave. behind everything that was familiar in search of new opportunities and a new life. Joe Biden understands that he is an irrefutable source of our strength. Generations of immigrants have come to this country with little more than the clothes they are wearing, hope in their hearts, and the desire to reclaim their own part of the American Dream. It is the reason why we have been able to constantly renew ourselves, grow better and stronger as a nation and face new challenges. Immigration is essential to who we are as a nation, our core values, and our aspirations for our future. Under a Biden administration, we will never turn our backs on who we are or what makes us unique and proudly American. America deserves an immigration policy that reflects our highest values ​​as a nation.

Today, our immigration system is under increased pressure as a direct result of Trump's misguided policies, even as he hasn't invested in smarter border technology that would improve our cargo screening.

His obsession with building a wall does nothing to address security challenges while costing taxpayers billions of dollars. Most of the contraband arrives through our legal ports of entry. It is estimated that almost half of the undocumented people living in the US today have stayed longer than the visa, they have not crossed a border illegally. Families fleeing violence in Central America voluntarily report to border patrol officers. And real threats to our security - drug cartels and human traffickers - can more easily evade enforcement efforts because Trump has misallocated resources to harass legitimate asylum seekers. Trump fundamentally misunderstands how to keep America safe because he cares more about ruling through fear and division than common sense solutions.

Trump's policies are bad for our economy, too. For generations, immigrants have strengthened our most valuable competitive advantage: our spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship. Research suggests that "the total annual contribution of foreign-born workers is approximately $ 2 trillion." Key sectors of the US economy, from agriculture to technology, depend on immigration. Working-age immigrants keep our economy growing, our communities thriving, and the country moving forward.

The challenges we face will not be solved with a constitutionally dubious “national emergency” to build a wall, separating families or denying asylum to people fleeing persecution and violence. Addressing the humanitarian crisis created by Trump on our border, uniting our nation, reaffirming our core values, and reforming our immigration system will require real leadership and real solutions. Biden is ready the first day to deliver both.

As president, Biden will vigorously enforce policies that protect our security, provide a fair and equitable system that helps grow and improve our economy, and secure our precious values. He:

• Take urgent action to undo Trump's damage and regain America's values
• Modernize the U.S. immigration system
• Welcome immigrants to our communities
• Reaffirm America's Commitment to Asylum Seekers and Refugees
• Addressing the root causes of irregular migration
• Implement effective border controls
• Biden's Commitment to a Just and Humane Immigration System

Joe Biden understands the pain felt by all families in the US who have had a loved one removed from the country, even under the Obama-Biden Administration, and believes that we must do better to respect our laws humanely. and preserve the dignity of immigrant families. , refugees and asylum seekers.

The Obama-Biden administration strongly supported the bipartisan comprehensive immigration solution that the Senate passed in 2013 and that would have put our country's immigration policies on a much stronger footing. When the Republican House refused to even put that bill to a vote, the Administration took steps to fundamentally change the course of our nation's immigration policies, offering relief and stability to hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who contribute to our communities. every day.

As vice president, Biden championed the creation and expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) program; the Central American Minors program, which allowed parents with legal status in the United States to apply to bring their children from Central America to live with them; and the creation of a task force in the White House to support New Americans and help them integrate into their new homes and communities.

Unlike its predecessors, the Obama-Biden administration took steps to prioritize law enforcement resources to eliminate threats to national security and public safety, not families. It also issued guidance designed to end mass raids on workplaces and prevent law enforcement activities in sensitive places like schools, hospitals and places of worship.

Critically, the Obama-Biden administration recognized that irregular migration from the Northern Triangle countries of Central America cannot be effectively addressed if solutions are only focused on our southern border. The best answer lies in addressing the root causes that drive desperate people to flee their homes in the first place: violence and insecurity, lack of economic opportunity, and corrupt governance. As vice president, Biden spearheaded the administration's efforts in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, paying high-level attention to these issues and securing bipartisan support for a $ 750 million aid package to help Northern Triangle countries implement critical and concrete reforms. These efforts were beginning to pay off and lower migration rates until Trump froze most of the funding.

As president, Biden will finish the job of building a just and humane immigration system, restoring the progress Trump has cruelly undone and taking it further. It will secure our border, while guaranteeing the dignity of migrants and upholding their legal right to seek asylum. It will enforce our laws without targeting communities, violating due process, or destroying families. He will ensure that our values ​​are squarely at the center of our immigration and compliance policies.

Take urgent action to undo Trump's damage and win back America's values

The next president must take urgent action to end the Trump Administration's draconian policies, based on fear and racism rather than fact, work to heal the wounds inflicted on immigrant communities, and restore the moral leadership of states. United. As president, Biden will act immediately to ensure that the US fulfills its responsibilities as a nation of laws and as a nation of immigrants.

In the first 100 days, a Biden Administration:

Immediately reverse the cruel and senseless policies of the Trump Administration that separate parents from their children at our border, including ending the prosecution of parents for minor immigration violations as a bullying tactic, and prioritizing the reunification of children who are still separated from their families.

End Trump's damaging asylum policies. The Statue of Liberty has long been a beacon for people who "yearn to breathe freely" around the world, including asylum seekers and refugees. But the Trump Administration has worked against this tradition to drastically restrict access to asylum in the US, including imposing additional restrictions on anyone traveling through Mexico or Guatemala; try to prevent victims of domestic and gang violence from receiving asylum; systematically prosecute adult asylum seekers for a misdemeanor offense of illegal entry; and severely limiting the ability of members of the LGBTQ community, an especially vulnerable group in many parts of the world, to qualify for asylum as members of a “particular social group”. Biden will end these policies, beginning with the Trump Migrant Protection Protocols,

End the mismanagement of the asylum system, which fuels violence and chaos at the border. Trump's disastrous “metering” policy, which limits the number of asylum applications accepted each day, forces asylum seekers to wait on the streets in often dangerous Mexican border cities for weeks before they are allowed to file. application. It has created a gruesome ecosystem of violence and exploitation, with cartels kidnapping, violently assaulting and extorting migrants. Biden will direct the resources necessary to ensure that asylum applications are processed fairly and efficiently, while treating families and children with compassion and sensitivity.

Bring humanitarian resources to the border and promote public-private initiatives. Humanitarian needs are best met through a network of organizations, such as religious shelters, non-governmental aid organizations, legal non-profit organizations, and refugee assistance agencies working together. Biden will dramatically increase US government resources to support migrants awaiting evaluation of their asylum claims and organizations serving their needs.

End prolonged detention and reinvest in a case management program. The Trump Administration has tried to circumvent the Flores agreement and keep the children in detention indefinitely. But proven alternatives to detention and non-profit case management programs, which support migrants as they navigate their legal obligations, are the best way to ensure they attend all required immigration appointments. These programs also allow migrants to live in dignity and security while they await their court hearings, facilitating things like doctor visits, social services, and school enrollment for children. Evidence shows that these programs are very effective and much less costly and punitive than detaining families. Biden will codify protections to safeguard children to ensure their treatment is consistent with their best interest and invest in community-based case management programs, including those supported by faith-based organizations such as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, to relocate migrants to safe environments. as fast as possible.

Reverse Trump's public charge rule, which goes against our values ​​as Americans and our nation's history. Allowing immigration officials to condition a person's ability to receive a visa or obtain permanent residence on the use of government services such as SNAP or Medicaid benefits, household income, and other discriminatory criteria undermines the character of the United States. as a land of open and welcoming opportunities. for everyone, not just the rich.

End the so-called National Emergency that draws federal dollars from the Department of Defense to build a wall. Building a wall will do little to deter criminals and cartels seeking to exploit our borders. Rather than steal resources from schools for military children and recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, Biden will direct federal resources to smart border control efforts, such as investments to improve the detection infrastructure at our ports of entry, which will actually maintain to America safer.

Protect the dreamers and their families. The Obama-Biden Administration created DACA in 2012 to protect “Dreamers,” undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, obeyed the law once here, and stayed in school or enlisted in the military. DACA provided youth who passed a background check and application process for temporary work permits and protection from deportation. The Trump Administration made the cruel and counterproductive decision to end DACA, causing confusion in the lives of millions of Dreamers. The dreamers and their parents should have a roadmap to citizenship through legislative immigration reform. But in the meantime, Biden will remove the uncertainty for Dreamers by reinstating the DACA program, and we will explore all legal options to protect their families from inhumane separation. Biden will also ensure that Dreamers are eligible for federal student aid (loans, Pell grants) and included in their proposals to provide debt-free community college access and invest in HBCU / Hispanic Service Institutions / Institutions for minorities, helping Dreamers contribute even more to our economy.

Rescind non-US refugee and travel bans, also known as "Muslim bans." The Trump Administration's anti-Muslim bias damages our economy, betrays our values, and can serve as a powerful terrorist recruiting tool. Banning Muslims from entering the country is morally wrong, and there is no intelligence or evidence to suggest that this makes our nation safer. It's another abuse of power by the Trump Administration designed to target primarily black and brown immigrants. Biden will immediately lift the "Muslim bans."

Order an immediate review of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for vulnerable populations who cannot find safety in their countries ravaged by violence or disaster. The politically motivated decisions of the Trump Administration to terminate protected status for hundreds of thousands of people fleeing countries affected by war and natural disasters, regardless of current conditions in the country, are a recipe for disaster. Biden will protect TPS and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) holders from being returned to unsafe countries. TPS / DED holders who have been in the country for an extended period of time and have built lives in the US will also be offered a path to citizenship through immigration law reform.

Reestablish reasonable enforcement priorities. Targeting people who have never been convicted of a serious crime and who have lived, worked, and contributed to our economy and our communities for decades is the definition of counterproductive. Biden will direct enforcement efforts toward threats to public safety and national security, while ensuring that individuals are treated with the due process to which they are entitled and that their human rights are protected. President Biden will end workplace raids to ensure that threats based on the status of workers do not interfere with their ability to organize and improve their wages and working conditions. He will also protect sensitive locations from enforcement actions. of immigration law. No one should be afraid to seek medical attention, go to school, work, or place of worship for fear of immigration action.

Ensure that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel meet professional standards and are held accountable for inhumane treatment. Biden will increase resources for training and demand transparency and independent oversight over ICE and CBP activities. Under a Biden Administration, there will be responsible professionals, confirmed by the Senate, who run these agencies, and they will report directly to the president.

Protect and expand opportunities for people who risked their lives in military service. Biden will not target men and women who served in uniform, or their families, for deportation. It will also direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to create a parole process for veterans deported by the Trump Administration, to reunite them with their families and military colleagues in the US.

Restore and defend the naturalization process for green card holders. A Biden Administration will streamline and improve the naturalization process to make it more accessible to qualified green card holders. The Trump Administration has made it too difficult for qualifying green card holders to obtain citizenship. This is simply wrong. Biden will restore faith in the citizenship process by removing obstacles to naturalization and obtaining the right to vote, addressing the backlog of applications by prioritizing the adjudication workflow and ensuring that applications are processed quickly and rejecting the imposition of unreasonable fees. .

Revitalize the New Americans Task Force and boost our economy by prioritizing integration, promoting immigrant entrepreneurship, increasing access to language instruction, and promoting civic engagement. Integrating the talents of new immigrants into our communities and helping them prosper enriches our nation and our economy. Under Biden's chairmanship, the New Americans Task Force will once again coordinate federal agencies and resources to provide community support on a variety of topics, including language learning, entrepreneurship and financial management, training of the workforce and guidance on the naturalization process.

Convene a regional meeting of leaders, including those from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Canada, to address the factors driving migration and propose a regional resettlement solution. Migration out of the Northern Triangle has affected more countries than the United States. Belize, Costa Rica, Mexico and others have also seen increasing numbers of people flee violence and lack of opportunity. A regional problem requires a regional solution, so Biden will immediately convene regional partners to institute a comprehensive, multinational plan to address the challenges.

Modernize the U.S. immigration system

As President, Biden will commit significant political capital to finally carry out immigration reform legislation to ensure America remains open and welcoming to people from all over the world, and to bring hardworking people who have enriched our communities and our country, in some cases. For decades out of the shadows This is not just a concern for Latino communities, it affects families of all origins and backgrounds. There are approximately 1,7 million undocumented immigrants from Asia in the US, as well as hundreds of thousands from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean. Biden will immediately begin working with Congress to modernize our system, with a priority on keeping families together by providing a roadmap to citizenship for nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants; grow our economy and expand economic opportunities across the country by improving and increasing legal immigration opportunities; and preserve the long-term directive of our immigration system to reunite families and enhance our diversity.

Immigrants are essential to the strength of our country and the American economy. When immigrants decide to come to the United States, they bring their unique traditions and contributions to our country's rich cultural tapestry. They are also a key engine of economic growth. The Congressional Budget Office found that the 2013 comprehensive immigration package would have, over time, increased the size of the economy by more than 5 percent. Currently, we are not leveraging America's ability to attract the best and best. brightest workers in the world. A modern immigration system must allow our economy to grow, while protecting the rights, wages and working conditions of all workers, and holding employers accountable if they break the rules. Immigrant rights and worker rights are deeply connected. We must ensure that every worker is protected, can join a union and can exercise their labor rights, regardless of immigration status, for the safety of all workers.

Joe Biden will work with Congress to pass legislation that:

Create a roadmap to citizenship for the nearly 11 million people who have been living and strengthening our country for years. These are our mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. They are our neighbors, co-workers, and members of our congregations and Little League teams. They contribute in myriad ways to our communities, workforce, and economy. In 2015, the IRS collected $ 23.6 billion from 4.4 million workers without Social Security numbers, many of whom were undocumented. Biden will aggressively advocate for legislation that creates a clear roadmap to legal status and citizenship for unauthorized immigrants who register, are up-to-date on their taxes and have passed a background check.

Reform the temporary worker visa program in selected industries. A set of industries depends on seasonal workers or workers who are only looking to be in the US for a short time. The current system for accommodating these workers is cumbersome, bureaucratic and inflexible, increasing the incentives to circumvent the system by hiring undocumented workers and allowing employers who control the visa to pay artificially low wages. Biden will work with Congress to reform the current temporary work visa system to allow workers in these select industries to change jobs, while also certifying the labor market's need for foreign workers. Employers should be able to provide data showing the unavailability of labor and the harm that would occur if temporary workers were not available. This flexibility,

Reform of the temporary visa system. Highly qualified temporary visas should not be used to discourage the hiring of workers already in the US for in-demand occupations. An immigration system that displaces highly-skilled workers in favor of only entry-level wages and skills threatens American innovation and competitiveness. Biden will work with Congress to first reform temporary visas to establish a wage-based allocation process and establish enforcement mechanisms to ensure they are aligned with the labor market and not used to undermine wages. Then, Biden will support expanding the number of highly skilled visas and removing employment-based visa limits per country, creating unacceptably long delays.

It provides a path to legalization for farm workers who have worked for years on American farms and continue to work in agriculture. Securing adequate and seasonal aid in the agricultural sector can be inefficient and difficult to navigate, causing people to avoid or exploit the system, even when jobs remain unfilled. Biden supports compromise legislation between farm workers and the farm sector that will provide legal status based on past farm work history and a faster path to a green card and ultimately citizenship. Biden will also ensure that labor and safety regulations, including overtime, humane living conditions, and protection against exposure to pesticides and heat, are enforced for these particularly vulnerable workers.

Reject the false choice between employment-based and family-based immigration. Every day, in every state in the country, millions of immigrants who are granted a family-based visa make valuable contributions to our country and economy. Keeping families together and allowing eligible immigrants to join their American relatives on American soil is vitally important, but the current system is poorly designed with country limits preventing applications from being approved in a timely manner. That means approved applicants can wait decades to be reunited with their families. As President, Biden will support family-based immigration by preserving family unification as the foundation of our immigration system; by allowing any approved applicant to receive a temporary nonimmigrant visa until the permanent visa is processed; parents to bring their minor children when they emigrate.

Preserve preferences for diversity in the current system. Trump has set his sights on abolishing the diversity visa lottery. This is a program that brings up to 50,000 immigrants from underrepresented countries to the United States each year. He has discredited the system as a “horror show” and repeatedly misrepresented how the lottery is administered, while demonizing and insulting those who receive the visas with racist overtones. Preferences for diversity are essential to preserving a strong and dynamic immigration system. As President, Biden will reaffirm our core values ​​and preserve the critical role of diversity preferences in ensuring that immigrants from around the world have the opportunity to legally become US citizens.

The number of visas offered for work-based permanent immigration increases depending on macroeconomic conditions. Currently, the number of employment-based visas is capped at 140.000 each year, without the ability to respond to the state of the labor market or the demands of national employers. As president, Biden will work with Congress to increase the number of visas granted for permanent employment-based immigration and promote mechanisms to temporarily reduce the number of visas during times of high unemployment in the United States. It will also exempt from any limits recent graduates of doctoral programs in STEM fields in the United States who are prepared to make some of the most important contributions to the world economy. Biden believes that foreign graduates of a US PhD program should receive a green card with their degree and that losing these highly skilled workers in foreign economies is a disservice to our own economic competitiveness.

Creates a new visa category to allow cities and counties to apply for higher levels of immigrants to support their growth. The disparity in economic growth between American cities and between rural communities and urban areas is one of the great imbalances in today's economy. Some cities and many rural communities struggle with declining populations, the erosion of economic opportunities, and local businesses facing unique challenges. Others simply struggle to attract a productive workforce and innovative entrepreneurs. As president, Biden will support a program to allow any county or county executive of a large or medium county or city to apply for additional immigrant visas to support the region's economic development strategy, provided that employers in those regions certify that there are jobs available and there are no workers to fill them. Holders of these visas should work and reside in the city or county that applied for them, and would be subject to the same certification protections as other employment-based immigrants.

It enforces the rules to protect American and foreign workers alike. The U.S. immigration system must guard against economy-wide wage cuts due to exploitation of foreign workers by unscrupulous employers who undermine the system by hiring immigrant workers below market price or by exiting the system. immigration to find workers. Biden will work with Congress to ensure that employers do not take advantage of immigrant workers and that US citizen workers are not undermined by employers who break the rules. Biden will also work to ensure that employers have the proper tools to certify the employment status of their workers and will re-establish the focus on abusive employers rather than vulnerable workers who are exploiting.

Expands protections for undocumented immigrants who report labor violations. When undocumented immigrants are victims of serious crimes and help in the investigation of those crimes, they are eligible for U Visas. The Obama-Biden Administration expanded the U Visa program to certain workplace crimes. As president, Biden will further extend these protections to victims of any workplace violations of federal, state or local labor laws by ensuring passage of the POWER Act. And, a Biden Administration will ensure that workers with temporary visas are protected so that they can exercise the labor rights that correspond to them.

Increase visas for survivors of domestic violence. Under the Trump Administration, there are unacceptable delays in the processing of adjudicating VAWA self-petition applications, U visas, and T visas. As President, Biden will end these delays and give victims the security and certainty they need. And Biden will triple the current limit of 10,000 U visas; this limit is insufficient to meet the extreme needs of the victims and hinders our public safety.

Welcome immigrants to our communities

Immigrants bring tremendous economic, cultural and social value to their new communities. Even in the cities hardest hit by job losses in the manufacturing sector, immigrants are a key driver of business and population growth.

According to a 2017 report by the New American Economy, from 2000 to 2015, immigrants accounted for 49,7% of all population growth in the Great Lakes region, more than 1,5 million people, which helped offset the impacts of population declines in cities like Syracuse and Akron. . Immigrants are giving new life to local economies, starting businesses, paying taxes, and spending their money in their new communities. The Center for American Progress has estimated that DACA recipients will contribute about $ 460,3 billion to the national GDP over the next decade. America needs to retain the talent and drive of American-raised Dreamers to secure those benefits for our own financial health.

It is time for the federal government to listen and learn from local municipalities across the country that have built vibrant and inclusive communities and economies by developing concrete grassroots-level policy and program recommendations to provide opportunities for new immigrants.

As president, Biden:

Mark federal resources, through the reestablishment of the Task Force for New Americans, to support community efforts to welcome immigrants. Concrete efforts will most often occur within individual communities, but federal agencies have tremendous information and resources to support community-led efforts. By adopting initiatives promoted by organizations like Welcoming America, a Biden Administration will improve access to federal agencies and better support local initiatives, such as:

• Establish Immigrant Affairs Offices at city councils, or at the county and state levels, so that there are local government officials focused on making inclusive policies;
  
• Create neighborhood resource centers or welcome centers to help all residents find work; access English language learning opportunities and services; and navigate the school system, the health care system, and other important facets of daily life;
  
• Support entrepreneur incubators targeting immigrants and provide resources to help access business loans, mentors, and capital;
  
• Promote state seals of bilingual literacy to recognize high school graduates who speak multiple languages;
  
• Promote campaigns to help legal permanent residents to naturalize;
  
• Facilitate state efforts to reduce barriers to re-licensing professional titles and certifications from other countries;
  
• Increase the representation of immigrants on community boards;
  
• Ensure that all public schools have sufficient English language learning support to help all children reach their potential; and
  
• Invest in programs to connect immigrant professionals with others in their field or to create cultural events and other programs to build social capital in immigrant communities.
  
• Lobby to repeal extreme state anti-immigrant laws that have a crippling effect on the ability of immigrants of domestic violence, survivors of sexual assault, and other crime victims to seek safety and justice. Some state laws put victims and witnesses into the shadows and threaten public safety. As documented in a recent national survey, immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking are increasingly afraid to contact the police, pursue civil or criminal cases, or go to court for safety. This traps victims who ask for help and risk deportation, retaliation from an abuser and separation from children, or stay with a violent partner and risk their lives. As president, Biden will work in partnership with cities, states, nonprofits and law enforcement agencies to build trust and lobby for states to repeal laws that cool the reporting of domestic violence incidents and threaten public safety.
  
• Expand long-overdue rights to agricultural and domestic workers. When Congress extended labor rights and protections to workers, farm and domestic workers, who are disproportionately immigrants and people of color, were left out. Even today, millions of these workers are not fully protected by federal labor law. As president, Biden will support legislation, including the Farmworker Fairness Act and the Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights, which expands federal protections to farm and domestic workers, ensuring that they, too, are entitled to basic protections in the farm. workplace and to organize and bargain collectively. And, through the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, Biden will ensure domestic workers have a voice in the workplace through a wage and standards board.
  
• Reaffirm America's Commitment to Asylum Seekers and Refugees

The policies of the Trump Administration have created a humanitarian disaster on our border and have mismanaged the unprecedented resources that Congress has allocated to it. Trump has diverted money to terrorize immigrant families, even as CBP facilities at the border are overwhelmed. After almost three years, this Administration still does not have a coherent plan for the protection and prosecution of children and families. CBP officers in the field, who are neither trained nor equipped for this job, are taking on an enormous responsibility to handle this crisis. And through his Migrant Protection Protocol policies, Trump has effectively closed our country to asylum seekers, forcing them to choose between waiting in dangerous situations, vulnerable to exploitation by cartels and other bad actors. or risk trying to cross between ports of entry. In other words, Trump's policies are actually encouraging people to cross irregularly, rather than enforcing in a legal, safe and orderly manner at ports.

As president, Biden:

Increase asylum officers to efficiently review recent border crossers and keep cases with positive findings of credible fear at the Asylum Division. This change, recommended by the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, will eliminate duplication of resources and fact-finding while reviewing the merit of asylum cases and ease the burden on overwhelmed immigration courts. Not all who leave from Central America are asylum seekers, but many are, and each case must be reviewed fairly and in full compliance with the law. Migrants who qualify for an asylum application will be admitted into the country through an orderly process and connected to resources that will help them take care of themselves. Migrants who do not qualify will have the opportunity to present their claim to an immigration judge, but if they are unable to satisfy the court, the government will help facilitate their successful reintegration to their home countries.

Restore asylum eligibility for survivors of domestic violence. Under the Biden Administration, the US Department of Justice will reinstate explicit asylum protections, terminated by the Trump Administration, for survivors of domestic violence and sexual violence whose home governments cannot or will not protect them.

Apply US asylum laws to those fleeing political persecution. Victims of persecution based on political beliefs have also suffered from Trump's curtailment of asylum processes and his lack of proper enforcement of US asylum laws.

Double the number of immigration judges, court personnel, and interpreters. There is a backlog of more than a million immigration cases in the administrative system, causing applicants to often wait years before their cases are heard. This increase in vital immigration court staff will support timely and fair adjudications for asylum and other cases.

End for-profit detention centers. No company should benefit from the suffering of desperate people fleeing violence. Biden will ensure that facilities temporarily housing migrants seeking asylum are maintained to the highest standards of care and prioritize the safety and dignity of families above all else.

Increase the number of refugees that we welcome to the country. With more than 70 million people displaced in today's world, this is a time that demands American leadership. Offering hope and refuge to refugees is part of who we are as a country. As a senator, Joe Biden co-sponsored legislation creating our refugee program, which Trump has consistently decimated. His Administration has lowered the refugee resettlement ceiling to its lowest levels in decades and closed the door to thousands of people suffering persecution, many of whom face threats of violence or even death in their home countries. We cannot mobilize other countries to meet their humanitarian obligations if we are not upholding our cherished democratic values ​​and firmly rejecting Trump's nativist rhetoric and actions. Biden embraces the core values ​​that have made us who we are and will prioritize restoring refugee admissions in accordance with our historic practice under both the Democratic and Republican administrations. It will set the annual limit on refugee admissions at 125.000 and seek to increase it over time in line with our responsibility, our values, and unprecedented global need.

Addressing the root causes of migration

The worst place to deal with irregular migration is our own border. Rather than working cooperatively with countries in the region to manage the crisis, Trump's erratic, enforcement-only approach is making things worse. The best way to solve this challenge is to address the underlying violence, instability and lack of opportunity that is forcing people to leave their homes in the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras in the first place. As vice president, Biden was the architect of a major US assistance program to drive reforms in Central America and address the key drivers of migration.

As president, Biden will pursue a comprehensive strategy to strengthen the security and prosperity of Central America in partnership with the people of the region who:

It addresses the root causes of migration by promoting greater security, economic development, and respect for the rule of law in Central America. The Northern Triangle is riven by violence, riddled with drug trafficking and feared by criminal organizations wielding military-grade weapons, and is particularly dangerous for women and children. Biden will propose a four-year, $ 4 billion assistance package for the region, with aid tied to governments in the region that provide measurable reductions in gang and gender-based violence, improvements in legal and educational systems, and implementation. of anti-corruption measures. , among other things. This support will also be complemented by international donors and regional partners.

Strengthen regional humanitarian responses. The inability of the Northern Triangle countries to stop violence and terror in the region has created a regional challenge for refugees. Almost all countries in the region host refugees and fight to protect and care for children and families. As a leader in the region, the US has a responsibility to help our neighbors and partners process and support refugees and asylum seekers. This will also help ease the pressure on our own border.

Manage migration through refugee resettlement and other legal programs. Whenever possible, we must allow asylum seekers to apply without undertaking the dangerous journey to the US Biden will update the Central American minors program for certain children seeking to reunite with American relatives, allowing them to apply for entry from their countries originally; expand efforts to register and process refugees in the region for resettlement to the United States and other countries; and expanding opportunities for individuals seeking temporary worker visas or other form of legal status that they may qualify for in order to come to the U.S.

Implement effective edge review

Like all nations, the United States has the right and duty to secure our borders and protect our people from threats. But we know that immigrants and immigrant communities are not a threat to our security, and the government should never use xenophobic or fear tactics to scare voters for political purposes. He is irresponsible and anti-American. Building a wall from sea to sea is not a serious political solution; it's a waste of money and diverts critical resources away from real threats. Today, illicit drugs are more likely to be smuggled through one of the legal ports of entry in the United States. They are hidden among commercial cargo on semi-trailers or in a hidden compartment of a passenger vehicle. A wall is not a serious impediment to sophisticated criminal organizations employing border tunnels, semi-submersible vessels, or even reciprocating saw people. We need smart and sensible policies that really strengthen our ability to detect these real threats by improving detection procedures at our legal ports of entry and investing in new technology. The border between Mexico and the United States should not be treated as a war zone; it must be a place where effective governance and cooperation between our two countries help our communities to prosper and grow together, facilitating trade and connection, and nurturing the exchange of cultures and ideas.

As president, Biden:

Invest in better technology along with privacy protections at the border, both at and between ports of entry, including cameras, sensors, large-scale X-ray machines, and fixed towers. Biden will also invest heavily in upgrading aging infrastructure at all of our ports of entry.

Improve collaboration between agencies. Various federal agencies collect information on transnational criminal organizations that smuggle illegal people, weapons, and narcotics. To more effectively combat the trafficking of illicit goods at ports of entry, consistent with our commitment to privacy, we must improve our coordination between government agencies.

Work with Mexico and Canada as partners, not adversaries. Better cooperation with our neighbors translates into greater security for all of our countries. Rather than intimidating our friends, Biden will create partnerships based on respect to pursue our shared interests and enhance our shared capabilities and information.