▲ Honduras immigrants heading for the US with the’American Dream
US President-elect Joe Biden faced Republican opposition right after the release of an immigration bill to be sent to Congress shortly after taking office.
The Associated Press reported that Republican lawmakers and conservative groups were opposed to Biden’s immigration bill, saying it would pardon illegal immigrants in the United States.
Republican Senator Chuck Grasley criticized the bill as “collective amnesty for all illegal immigrants living in the United States,” and “unconditional group amnesty without safeguards is not worth reconsidering.”
Senator Marco Rubio of the same party dismissed, “I think there are many issues we can cooperate with, but the collective amnesty for those who are illegal in this country will not be one of them.”
“Previous proposals admitted that at least the faucet should be turned off and the overflowing water should be wiped off with a rag,” said Mark Cricorian, director of the Center for Immigration Research (CIS), a conservative think tank advocating immigration regulations. “It’s like cleaning the floor with a mop.”
The immigration bill, released by Biden Transition Commission officials the day before, aims to give undocumented migrants legal status of residence and absorb them as U.S. citizens over an eight-year period.
As of January 1 of this year, undocumented immigrants residing in the United States will be granted a five-year green card if they pass a background check and comply with tax and other basic obligations.
Over the next three years, you can go through the naturalization process and become a U.S. citizen at your choice.
‘Dreamers’, agricultural workers, etc. who enter Korea as children and stay unregistered may shorten the process if they attend school or meet other conditions.
The procedure to allow undocumented migrants to naturalize in 8 years is evaluated as the fastest among the recently introduced systems.
Shortly after taking the oath of office, Biden decided to propose amendments to the immigration policy and send it to Congress.
However, the bill does not contain regulations, such as strengthening border controls that can be implemented in conjunction with rapid naturalization, and this is causing rebellion from the Republican Party, the Associated Press said.
(Photo = Getty Image Korea)