Presidential elections in the United States are already well underway. In the political debate, an important issue, immigration policy, a dossier in which the two candidates have very different positions. Once in the Oval Office, the future president will be able to promote initiatives in this area. How can they affect those who want to live in the United States? How about those who already live there?
In the light of the evolution of the campaign, the views of Trump and Biden have turned out to be diametrically opposed. And in the televised face-to-face meetings, a sharp contrast has been made evident in the proposals of the two candidates.
For the current president, Donald Trump, the migrant is a threat to the local worker. A protectionist speech which has penetrated a part of the electorate, obtaining a large number of votes in the previous elections.
On the other side we find Biden with a very different tone, more pragmatic and conciliatory. The democrat in his speech attaches great importance to the contribution of the different migratory waves that have shaped today's American society. Unlike Trump, he shows much more empathy on issues such as asylum claims and refugees.
The reality is that the United States continues to hire foreign labor in many sectors and is highly dependent on imported talent.
There are several axes in the immigration debate and this does not only revolve around the entry into the country of new expatriates, but also on those who are already in the country, many in an irregular situation, for which the official figure is eleven millions. If we consult the two electoral programs, the differences in this matter are obvious.
Entry restrictions
The administration of until now President Donald Trump imposed severe restrictions on the entry of citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Venezuela and Yemen for reasons of national security. These restrictions were extended to six more countries in 2020. Nothing indicates that the position of the current president will change. On the contrary, Biden advocates a revision of these legal provisions and their progressive suppression.
During his four year mandate, Donald Trump has not only banned several nationalities from entering the US territory. Indeed, more recently the US President has enforced an immigration ban until the end of year. He has also targeted high-skilled foreign talents. For example, in October this year, Trump made public his plans to target the work visas reserved for the foreign talents in the tech sector.
On the other hand, Biden is in favor of an open immigration system for foreign professionals.
Dreamers and the DACA program
One of the thorniest issues in the immigration debate is the status of those who have come to the United States as minors. They are considered by the administration as irregular. Should they be expelled? It is estimated that there are around 6 and a half million undocumented people who make up this group. Just over 3.5 million are the so-called Dreamers, who arrived in the country with less than 18 years. Only a small group of 825,000 have been able to accept an amnesty against expulsion.
The DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals in its acronym in English) was created during the Obama administration, and grants a moratorium on the expulsion of illegal immigrants under the following conditions: having arrived in the United States under the age of sixteen, having resided in continuously in the country since June 15, 2007; and be under 31 years of age in June 2012. The program entered a judicial war in 2017, which resulted in the suspension of the program for new applicants, although the program guarantees protection for those already registered.
What will happen to them after the elections? The current Trump administration is working to push for a repeal of the DACA program, so everything indicates that it will continue this initiative in a hypothetical new term. Therefore, to the 3 and a half million dreamers likely to be expelled, we should add the beneficiaries of the DACA program (825,000) and just over a million and a half who, despite meeting the requirements, could not apply, due to the cancellation of the program in 2017.
Biden, on the other hand, advocates for the continuity of the DACA program and its application to Dreamers. In this sense, the Democratic candidate goes further and proposes a general amnesty that advocates the regularization of the eleven million irregular immigrants and their family reunification...
