(ETH) – President-elect Joe Biden has plans to soon unveil a sweeping immigration bill on his first day in office that would provide an eight-year path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal status.
According to the Associated Press, this proposal would be a massive reversal from the Trump administration’s harsh immigration policies. This comes as Biden intends to keep his promise to Latino voters and other immigrant communities after four years of President Donald Trump’s restrictive policies and mass deportations.
The report states that it would open the door for one of the quickest pathways to citizenship for those living without legal status of any measure in recent years. The bill will be revealed after Biden takes the oath of office Wednesday, and will likely be hundreds of pages long according to a person familiar with the legislation and granted anonymity to discuss it.
This new bill comes as Biden himself has repeatedly called Trump’s actions on immigration an “unrelenting assault” on American values and said he would “undo the damage” while continuing to maintain border enforcement. In more details of the Bill, The AP stated the following:
“Under the legislation, those living in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2021, without legal status would have a five-year path to temporary legal status, or a green card, if they pass background checks, pay taxes and fulfill other basic requirements. From there, it’s a three-year path to naturalization, if they decide to pursue citizenship.
For some immigrants, the process would be quicker. So-called Dreamers, the young people who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children, as well as agricultural workers and people under temporary protective status, could qualify more immediately for green cards if they are working, are in school, or meet other requirements.”
