Some big, early shifts on immigration expected under Biden

Some dramatic moves on immigration are expected in early days of Biden ministration. Joe Biden will likely use executive orders to reverse some of President Donald Trump's most controversial actions, rolling back moves that were a central feature of his ministration and important to his base.

Biden ministration plans to restore protection for people brought to US illegally as mirs and stop using Pentagon funds to build a border wall. Biden unveiled a detailed, highly ambitious plan on immigration but it will take time to undo many actions taken by Trump.

incoming president will also likely face a divided Congress, making it difficult to enact any kind of sweeping, comprehensive changes to nation's immigration system. Restricting immigration was a signature issue for Trump, who infamously called Mexicans rapists as he pledged to build border wall in launching his campaign. His ministration banned travelers from some predominantly Muslim countries as one of its first acts, took many steps to limit legal immigration and cut number of refugees allowed in country by 80%.

Biden has said “immigration is central to who we are as a nation,” ting that most Americans can trace ir ancestry to immigrants, but it isn't a core issue. It's t even mentioned on his transition website's top priorities: COVID-19, ecomic recovery, racial justice and climate change. Biden named Cecilia Muz, President Barack Obama's top immigration viser, to his transition team, which some interpreted as signaling a more moderate tack.

Biden has said he will move quickly to undo some of Trump's signature immigration initiatives. border wall? roughly 400 miles built so far won't come down but new ministration won't keep building it, or taking money from Pentagon to fund it over objections of Congress.

incoming ministration plans to reinstate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which currently shields from deportation about 650,000 people who came to country when y were young. He plans to overturn travel ban on people visiting United States from 13 countries, many of m Muslim-majority.

One of Trump's first moves in office was to tell immigration officials that everyone in country illegally was subject to deportation. Biden is expected to return to criteria similar to what Obama opted toward end of his tenure, largely limiting deportations to people with serious criminal records in United States.

Biden said he wants government to help find parents of hundreds of children who were separated from ir parents at border early in Trump ministration. Biden wants to get rid of policies that have been “detrimental” to seeking asylum -- such as policy to make asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for hearings in US immigration court -- but he is expected to move cautiously to avoid triggering more arrivals.

Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat who was a Biden appointee to joint immigration task force with Bernie Sanders, said a resolution will require coordination with Mexico. “This is a moment that's going to require true leership,” she said. Nearly every major policy change under Trump is in court and may take effort to disentangle, including considerations of protecting executive power. Or reversals would be subject to formal rule-making procedures that require time.

Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor of immigration law practice at Cornell Law School, thinks Biden will move cautiously on asylum to avoid setting off a new wave of arrivals and says or changes will face “procedural and practical problems.” Take “public charge” rule, which disqualifies more people from green cards if y rely on government benefits.

Biden wants it reversed but would need to go through extensive, rule-making exercise. A federal appeals court sided with Trump on ending humanitarian protections that have allowed hundreds of thousands of people from El Salvor, Nicaragua, Haiti and Sudan to remain in United States.

Biden says only that he would order an “immediate review” of “Temporary Protected Status.” Yale-Loehr, a strong critic of Trump's policies, says it is “going to take four years to undo all dam that Trump ministration has done” while Biden attends to pandemic and or issues. At least initially, Biden may keep in place a Trump ministration order that authorizes Customs and Border Protection to quickly expel any migrant as a public health measure during COVID-19 pandemic.

Even though critics question health justification for order, new ministration may decide it's necessary to avoid a rush of migrants and to protect Border Patrol nts and or CBP employees, says Doris Meissner, a former senior U.S. immigration official w with Migration Policy Institute. “This health circumstance is t likely to just disappear come January or February,” she says.

Biden says he will “commit significant political capital to finally deliver legislative immigration reform," which would be necessary to fix problems with American immigration system and resolve fate of millions of undocumented people living in U.S. That's a long shot, at best, with divided Congress. President George W. Bush called for a big immigration bill, to avail. Obama pushed for one as well, and it died in House. 

(Im Credits: AP)