With President Joe Biden in office, a lot of changes are being made to U.S. immigration laws. Recently, the House voted to pass two important new bills. Read on for more information.
What are the New Bills and What Would they Accomplish?
Recently, the House voted to pass the American Dream and Promise Act. This proposal would allow more than 2.3 million unauthorized immigrants who came to the U.S. as minors, as well as beneficiaries of certain temporary humanitarian programs, to gain permanent legal status and eventually, U.S. citizenship. These immigrants are referred to as “dreamers.” The House also passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. According to CBSnews.com, this “would grant legal status to hundreds of thousands of farmworkers living in the U.S. without authorization.”
CBSnews.com has broken down what these acts would accomplish if they become laws:
- The American Dream and Promise Act would make recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and other undocumented immigrants brought to the country before age 18 eligible to apply for a 10-year period of conditional permanent residence, provided they satisfy a number of residency requirements.
- Applicants would be eligible to apply for permanent residence if they:
- Earned a college degree or enrolled in a bachelor’s program for two years
- Served in the military for at least two years
- Worked in the U.S. for a three-year period.
- More than 300,000 immigrants living in the U.S. with Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure, two provisional forms of humanitarian relief, would automatically be eligible to apply for permanent residency under the bill, if they meet eligibility requirements.
- The Farm Workforce Modernization Act would allow immigrant farmworkers to apply for a temporary and renewable immigration status if they have worked at least 180 days in the U.S. during a two-year period.
- Eligible workers would be allowed to request green cards if they complete four or eight years of additional agricultural work, depending on whether they have performed such work for more than or less than 10 years.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your immigration status, do not hesitate to contact our firm. We are here to advocate for you and walk you through all of your immigration law matters.
Contact our experienced Wisconsin firm
John Sesini is an experienced immigration attorney with offices in Green Bay and Milwaukee Wisconsin. Our firm understands what is at stake when it comes to immigration law matters, which is why If you have any questions, you should not hesitate to contact the Sesini Law Group, S.C. and schedule your initial consultation with our firm today.