Biden to sign order to expand refugee program in US

(CNN) – President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order confirming his goal Let tens of thousands more refugees into the United StatesAccording to two officials in his government.

Under former President Donald Trump, the U.S. refugee program was scrapped after years of declining visits Limit of 15,000 immigrants in fiscal year 2021, Dramatically lower than the country’s historically higher enrollment limits.

The refugee limit, which dictates how many people can be allowed in the United States, must be approved by the president. But where the cap was often seen as a goal to be achieved, the actual number of refugees admitted was dramatically reduced under the Trump administration.

During the campaign, Biden promised to increase refugee enrollment nearly tenfold, with an annual limit of 125,000. According to a draft calendar sent to his government allies, the president is expected to sign immigration orders early Friday.

While it is not clear when Biden wants to attack the positions he has taken, the long-awaited order will serve as a guiding principle to set a transparent tone for refugees and establish a list of required reports within 30 to 120 days. National Security Officer.

White House officials have clarified their intention to confirm the plan. Over the weekend, Esther Olaverria, deputy director of the National Policy Council for Immigration, said Biden’s next steps would be to “revive the refugee program and allow the United States to return to its historic role as refugee leader and safeguard.” .

Friday marks two years of Trump-era policy that requires non-Mexican immigrants seeking asylum in the United States to wait until the trial date in Mexico. These orders formulate the measures already taken in the first hours of Biden’s presidency and confirm the administration’s vision for immigration and border enforcement.

The White House declined to comment on Biden’s plans.

Python’s actions on immigrants to the United States

On Saturday, the U.S. During the winter session of the Mayors’ Conference, Olavaria said one of Biden’s forthcoming mandates was to focus on the border and the region as a whole by providing funding to address the root causes of immigration. Biden will also establish programs to strengthen the asylum system in neighboring countries, to implement the U.S. Refugee Admission Program for immigrants in the region, and to reactivate the program to provide security for those closest to their homes. Trump stopped Central American juveniles and allowed some young people at risk to live in the United States.

The government wants to establish a “fair but efficient asylum program” on the southern border of the United States. The program “Stay in Mexico”, Which forces immigrants to stay in Mexico, while their immigration cases are being developed in the United States. Third Country Agreements With Central American countries established under the Trump administration.

The Department of Homeland Security last week completed new records on the “stay in Mexico” program, but did not say what will happen to those already subject to the policy.

The “public fee” rule

Olavaria cited Trump’s declarations as a public action rule that largely prohibits low-income immigrants from seeking legal status for immigrants if they use benefits such as medical assistance, food stamps and home vouchers. .

“These are policies that have been neglected for decades, in fact, the contributions that immigrants have made to our economy, to our society, to our culture. We will reclaim those policies and return to a country that welcomes immigrants and recognizes their contributions,” he said.

The Biden administration’s approach to immigration was completely different from the Trump administration ‘s attempt to control immigration to the United States. In 2019, the U.S. In an interview with Ken Cucinelli, then acting director of citizenship and immigration services The iconic poem was changed On the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty to suggest that only immigrants who can “defend themselves” are welcome in the United States.

Family Separation and “Zero Tolerance”

Biden is also expected to sign an order establishing a task force to focus on reuniting separated families on the U.S.-Mexico border under Trump’s controversial “Zero Tolerance” policy, which ended in June 2018. On Tuesday, the Judiciary The 2018 memorandum was officially canceled.

“In line with this long-standing policy of conducting personalized assessments in criminal cases, I am immediately recovering – the policy order,” Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson told federal prosecutors in a note.

Despite the flood of announcements and actions, White House officials acknowledge the limitations of executive power.

“The president has a lot of power to adjust the immigration system in different ways,” Tyler Moran, immigration chairman of the National Policy Council, told mayors Saturday. “But what the president really can’t do is give the people permanent status, and we ‘ve made a lot of efforts with this, but we have to do this to make sure people are on the path to citizenship.”

The immigration bill that Fiden sent to Congress was a priority, although a White House official acknowledged that “it’s all or nothing.” The expectation is that the leaders of the two houses and the two parties will work together in a set, and that the final law may be different.

– CNN’s Betsy Klein contributed to this report.