Has Biden kept his promises to the latino community?

The new president of the United States is a key player in strengthening social justice with Latino immigrants. Despite the fact that Biden was vice president in the Obama administration (when about 3 million undocumented immigrants were deported), it seems that he now has a more benevolent position with the Latino community.

In the hectic 2020 political campaign against the reelection of Donald Trump, Biden was emphatic in improving the living conditions of Latinos and making a readjustment to the policies that his predecessor had enacted.

Preserving the DACA program

DACA or Deferred Action Program, was a project carried out during the Barack Obama administration and that aimed to protect the rights of those people who entered the United States illegally as children and were taken under legal status so as not to be deported to their countries of origin.

In the previous administration, Trump ordered that this program be canceled and thus hundreds of thousands of young Latinos were left unprotected. However, the new US president reversed that order and through a memorandum put the 650,000 undocumented persons who belong to DACA or better known as "dreamers" under protection, while Congress gives them a definitive solution.

Stopped the construction of the border wall

Donald Trump in his administration proposed the construction of a wall along the border with Mexico. This raised many doubts about its implementation and also generated scenarios of tension, not only with the neighboring country but also with the entire Latino community due to the rejection of immigrants who entered from the southern border of the United States with the dream of a better life. 

Although he never finished the wall and did not achieve the necessary majorities in Congress for its financing, a new executive order from the new president stopped its construction. This puts an end to the supposed National Emergency. 

End of the program "Remain in Mexico"

Biden also ordered the suspension of Trump's program of returning all asylum seekers to Mexico and making them wait there for months while their cases were resolved to receive protection from the American government.

With this new setback, relief is given to all immigrants who request asylum in the United States without them having to leave the place where they are. However, DHS clarified that "people outside the United States will not be eligible for legal status under the bill that President Biden sent to Congress today ," and insisted that it is aimed at those already residing in the country.

Also read: Who is the new president of the United States?

Reunited migrant families separated at the border

The previous president had applied a zero-tolerance policy on the southern border between July 2017 and June 2018 that ended in the separation of 5,500 children from their parents, who came to the United States fleeing the violence of Central America. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, about 1,000 families are still separated due to the attempt to reduce immigration in the Trump administration.

Therefore, the new president has repealed that policy that he considers cruel and has ordered the creation of a commission to reunite families that are still separated.

“We are going to work to undo the moral and national shame of the previous Administration that literally, not figuratively, ripped children from their families, mothers and fathers at the border, without any plan, none at all, to reunify the children still in custody and their parents, ”said Joe Biden.

Legalize eleven million undocumented people

On Thursday, February 18, Democrats finally carried out one of Biden's most ambitious proposals in his campaign. It is immigration reform, a bill that if approved will allow eleven million people who live in the United States irregularly to finally have legal status. Although this step is ambitious and hopeful for immigrants, the result of the votes in Congress will be what will define the future of this measure.

"Although I support a complete and comprehensive immigration reform, I am ready to move forward little by little, because I do not want to end up with good intentions in my hands and have nothing," says Texas Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar.

After decades of failure in trying to reach an agreement on the immigration issue, the new US government will have to be very careful about the agreements it intends to implement. However, one of Biden's advantages is that his political party has majorities in the House of Representatives and half of the Senate seats. 

On the other hand, young immigrants brought to the United States as children and better known as "dreamers" or "dreamers" who are part of the DACA (Deferred Action) program or those who have a TPS (Temporary Protected Status) for being victims of conflicts in their countries of origin,  would automatically obtain the “Green Card” or residency that allows an easy path to obtaining American citizenship.

For the rest of the undocumented people, this legalization process would take about eight years. A temporary status for five years and citizenship after three. This agreement would only apply to those people who have been in the country before January 1, 2021.