The proposal seeks to legalize millions of immigrants who can prove their presence in the United States before January 1, 2021 and have no criminal record.
Here are ten critical points on which, and how, immigrants would benefit if the plan is approved in Congress:
1- Immigrants protected with the Deferred Action (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) programs would obtain immediate permanent residence and citizenship in three years.
Agricultural workers who have worked in the fields for at least five (5) years can also directly apply for permanent residence, and three years later, they could access US citizenship. The rest of the immigrants who meet the requirements would obtain a temporary permit of five (5) years, after which they could apply for permanent residence and three (3) years later for naturalization.
2- The plan allows access to permanent residence to some immigrants present with valid visas such as the H-2A, granted to peasants, or anyone who "has been involved in essential critical infrastructure services or labor".
3- The process of petitioning the relatives of permanent residents would be accelerated, which would favor a large number of so-called mixed couples, made up of a "green card" holder and a foreigner.
4- Eliminates the punishment of 3 and 10 years that prohibits immigrants from returning to the US for having lived irregularly in the country.
5- No person who meets the requirements to benefit from the plan can be deported while in the process.
6- The bill will allow anyone who makes an application for a work permit while the government processes the application, which, given the number of petitioners, could take a long time.
7- Eliminates the one-year deadline for filing asylum benefit applications, reduces delays in applications for this, increases protection for U, T, and VAWA visa petitioners, which protect domestic violence victims and witnesses of crimes, among others.
8- The plan expands the number of visas granted to US citizens' relatives, eliminating years of waiting to enter the country legally.
9- The project restores a general exemption for some arguments that make an immigrant inadmissible to obtain a permanent residence and places him in deportation proceedings.
10- The bill also creates a pilot program to stimulate regional economic development and higher salary incentives for highly qualified non-immigrant visas to avoid unfair competition with US workers.