WP: Biden to propose overhaul of immigration laws on first day in office

US President-elect Joseph Biden will send legislative proposals to Congress on January 20 to reform the migration sector, Report states, citing The Washington Post.

As the newspaper notes, immediately after the inauguration, Biden will deploy a comprehensive migration legislation reform. It is planned to introduce eight years for obtaining citizenship to migrants without legal status and increase quotas for receiving refugees. The proposed package is intended, among other things, to eradicate the causes of the migration flow from Central America.

Under the eight-year plan, millions of applicants will receive temporary status for five years and qualify for a green card if they pass security checks and pay taxes. If these conditions are met, it is allowed to apply for citizenship after three years. The new rules will apply only to applicants in the United States as of January 1, 2021. Participants in the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) Migrant Child protection program and those arriving from disaster-affected countries can immediately apply for a green card.

The DACA program was introduced in 2012 by President Barack Obama as a stopgap measure to shield from deportation people who were brought into the United States as children and did not have citizenship or legal residency status. The protection lasts for two years at a time and is renewable.