Joe Biden’s monumental presidential win has ushered in a new era of hope for immigrants. President-elect Joe Biden has already planned sweeping changes to immigration for his first weeks in office. This will mark a vast shift from the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate immigration to the United States over the last four years.
CBS news obtained an advance look into the changes that President-elect Joe Biden hopes to enact next year. These changes include fully restoring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which the Trump administration tried to end. Currently, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is only accepting renewals for DACA, while the new changes would allow for first time applications.
The Biden administration also plans to rescind the Muslim Travel Ban that President Trump put into place, severely limiting immigration to the United States for citizens of several predominantly Muslim countries. Many immigrants from these countries have been stuck overseas for several years due to this ban.
Additional changes include implementing “a 100-day freeze on deportations while looking at ways to deprioritize the removals of undocumented immigrants who aren’t violent criminals.” This would be drastically different from President Trump’s designation of all undocumented immigrants as priorities for removal.
While these proposed changes by the Biden administration are encouraging, we must wait until next year to see what unfolds. Regardless, it is time for positive change and a chance to undo the damage that has been done by the Trump administration to immigration.