President-Elect Joe Biden speaks on immigration matters in front of a crowd. He is standing next to a man and putting a hand on his shoulder. The other man is holding an anti-deportation sign that reads, “Not 1 more deportation. Moratorium on deportation on day 1.”
Everyone, including us, has been commenting on the fact that immigration will be much easier with the new administration taking over in 2021. You may read about why it might be better to apply for a visa or green card now that Trump is old news and Biden is now in the hot seat – but how are the current policies and laws going to shift exactly? What needs to be done in order for regular people to experience any changes in the US immigration process? Let’s walk through a few things that need to happen in order for us to see a difference between the policies of Trump’s reign, and the immigration regulations of this bright new year.
How it was done and how things will go moving forward
Trump used memos, executive orders, and proclamations to institute new regulations pertaining to US immigration. In order to see any type of change in these policies, Biden will need to work with his cabinet to address these policies head on.
Many regulations that were set to begin after inauguration day can be sidetracked by Biden in the upcoming weeks and months once he becomes president, giving his administration a 60-day period to decide which regulations should be withdrawn, and which can be reformulated to better fit the new admins policies. Additionally, Trump issued several proclamations in April and June, limiting immigrant visas from specific countries, but also limiting non-immigrant visas based on age of the immigrant, L-1s, etc., unless they meet a certain exception. These proclamations in particular, declared on New Years Eve of 2020, have been extended through March 2021. The good news is Biden won’t have to go through a lengthy process to rescind these proclamations. Instead, he’ll just need to show that the entry of the immigrants does not have a negative impact on the US economy and immigrants hoping to come to the States will be back in business.
Many of you are probably wondering what will happen to the Travel Ban (effecting many countries, especially in the Schengen area), as well as the ban against majority-Muslim countries, once Trump is kicked to the curb. Our prediction is that Biden will rescind these policies immediately, unless they are connected to specific COVID-related travel restrictions, and we will see what comes in place of those specific policies.
With the highly awaited inauguration already out of the way, there’s much to look forward to with Biden’s new control over immigration in the US. Please let us know if you have any interest in providing topics for us to dive into on our blog, we would love to hear what’s important to you and what questions or concerns you may have. As always, if you would like to get in touch with our offices, please do not hesitate to call our Pittsburgh office at 412.258.8080, our PHiladelphia office at 215-982-2381, or schedule a free consultation on our site using this link.