27 March (Punjab khabarnama) : President Joe Biden is considering handing out green cards to up to 4,000 undocumented immigrants facing deportation. There are some conditions – they must have resided in the United States for at least a decade, and have not been convicted of “serious crimes.”
According to the Daily Mail, a proposal floated by the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review in September last year sought to make thousands of migrants lawful permanent residents. Migrants who wish to qualify must also have “good moral character.” They will qualify only if the case is such that they “would suffer exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” if deported.
“You will have to wait your turn before an immigration judge can approve your application,” the proposal document reads. “This may take years.” After becoming president, Biden took various executive actions in an attempt to reverse Donald Trump’s immigration policies. These included the “Remain in Mexico” program.”
Several migrants cross the border into the US illegally
A record number of migrants cross the border into the US illegally every year. In fiscal years 2022 and 2023, as many as 270 with their names on US terror watchlists were apprehended by border authorities. So far in fiscal year 2024, 50 have been encountered.
Because of Biden’s expansion of humanitarian parole, over 320,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela have been flown into the US, or have directly entered. Last month, Biden came under fire after a Venezuelan national murdered Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. Jose Antonio Ibarra had entered the US illegally back in 2022.
During his State of the Union address, Biden apologised for referring to Ibarra as an “illegal.” On the other hand, he got Riley’s name wrong, calling her Lincoln Riley, but later failed to apologise for the mistake. Many accused him of apologising to the killer.
How this could affect the Indian community
Indians have long protested Biden’s immigration policies. While various professionals face a minimum wait of 500 days for visa approval, some simply use the open border illegally. Illegal immigration is favoured, whereas people pursuing legal avenues are at a disadvantage.
Indians happen to be the third-largest group of undocumented immigrants in the US. Since 2011, the number has been surging by 70%. Varun Singh, MD-XIPHIAS Immigration, told HindustanTimes.com while addressing the backlog, “Crucial for skilled Indian professionals aiming to work in the United States, is currently facing significant challenges due to extensive backlogs.”
Vivek Wadhwa, an Indian-American author and motivational speaker, previously wrote on X, “This is the ridiculous state of US immigration: break the law and get rewarded for it. Highly skilled engineers and scientists can’t even get tourist visas while anyone can catch a flight to Mexico and walk across the border. No background checks, no visa processing delays”.
Sharing his post, another X user wrote, “Highskilled immigrants pay thousands of dollars as tuition fees to get educated in US universities and then get stuck in greencard backlog n face visa renewal issues whereas illegal immigrants break the law and easily get benefits.. then why would people come legally to the US???”