President Biden published a fact sheet for his immigration plan on July 27, 2021. Here’s what you should know.

What Has Biden Done So Far?

The fact sheet begins by breaking down the advances made under President Biden since his inauguration.

So far, the Administration has:

• Reformed many inhumane immigration laws
• Processed over 12,500 people from the Return to Mexico program
• Expanded lawful pathways for immigrants
• Created the Central American Minors (CAM) program to reunite families
• Strengthened collaboration with regional partners
• Formed a new Human Smuggling and Trafficking Taskforce to prevent migrant smuggling operations
• Continued to deter irregular migration at the southern border

These efforts are the fruits of President Bidens’ efforts to reform immigration to the United States. The Administration will continue to push for reform and change that will benefit migrants seeking a new life in the U.S. in addition to ensuring that their rights are protected.

What Is the Blueprint?

This announcement lays out the blueprint for the future of immigration. Essentially, this is Biden’s plan for long-term, sustainable change that will last. Immigration policy has always been vulnerable to rash decision-making with every new president, so the Biden Administration’s hope is that they will be able to make permanent changes.

What the Blueprint Says

The blueprint will detail how the President intends to build a “secure, humane and well-managed border.”

As a part of this effort, the Administration will:

• Make better use of existing enforcement resources by investing in border technology instead of building a wall or deputizing more officers. Instead, more money will be set aside to modernize existing procedures.
• Improve the expedited removal process by investigating the current procedures and reforming them to be more objective. In doing so, asylum seekers and other legal immigration pathways will be protected because officials will have a better idea of who is a legal migrant and who may be entering the country illegally.
• Facilitate secure border management by offering training and assistance to improve border infrastructure and encourage collaboration between government agencies.
• Strengthen anti-smuggling and anti-trafficking operations with the help of regional governments. This will help increase prosecution of traffickers and hopefully decimate smuggling operations that threaten public safety and legal migration.
• Bolster public education through consistent messaging and the promotion of safe, legal, and orderly migration.
• Establish a docket for asylum claims that will help immigration courts to handle cases more efficiently.
• Improve the efficiency and fairness of the asylum system by giving authorization to officers that will allow them to adjudicate claims for those arriving at the border and establish eligibility in compliance with international standards. This means that the Administration will give immediate decision-making power to asylum agents instead of leaving these cases to collect dust.
• Maximize legal representation and allocate funds to pro bono legal service providers representing vulnerable individuals in immigration court.
• Reduce court backlogs by appointing more judges and supporting existing court staff and their efforts to maintain fair processing. The Department of Justice will also be more involved in evaluating these procedures.
• Provide humanitarian support to address immediate houselessness and other issues that contribute to displacement.
• Expand access to international protection and empower national efforts to resettle refugees.
• Establish migration resource centers that will provide immigrants with the information they need to pursue lawful citizenship.
• Restart and expand the CAM program and provide children with the opportunity to qualify for protection and reunite with their parents.
• Expand refugee processing to help international organizations prepare and assist refugees for resettlement. This program will target vulnerable nationals from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
• Expand access to temporary work visas for immigrants from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
• Invest in programs that will strengthen and address the root causes of migration. This means that the Administration will provide resources to countries struggling with crises that lead to mass migration.

Takeaway

These are the foundational elements of Biden’s Blueprint for immigration, but they can’t happen without the support of Congress and local governments. Key legislation is currently going through the approval process, but legislators will still need to vote on these issues.