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BREAKING IMMIGRATION NEWS
11/30/2020 Issue
NEW AMNESTY?
Statue of Liberty on Island in New York with flag of the United States of America
           On Tuesday, November 24, 2020, on a TV interview, President-elect Joe Biden declared that during the first 100 days of his administration (beginning on January 20, 2021), he would submit to the U.S. Congress a Bill for legalization of millions of undocumented aliens in the U.S. – with a path to citizenship.
           
Congress would need to approve it and pass it as a Law.
THE NEXT SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY

President-elect Joe Biden announced his nomination for Secretary of Homeland Security – the chief of the three branches of the Immigration Service –
Mr. Alejandro Mayorkas.

Mr. Mayorkas came to the U.S. as a child, a refugee from Cuba, and was raised in Los Angeles. After becoming a lawyer and working in private practice, he served as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California and then was appointed by President Obama to be the Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In this position, he implemented the original DACA program in 2012. Then, he served as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.

There is no doubt that he is well qualified to be the Secretary of this very important government agency. It is reasonable to expect that under him there will be many positive changes in our immigration system.

After the official nomination on or after January 20, 2021, 
Mr. Mayorkas would still need to be “confirmed” by the U.S. Senate.

DACA
 
Now we know that Vice-President Joe Biden will be the President as of January 20, 2021.  Then there will be positive changes for immigration including DACA. It is estimated that there are at least 1.1 million undocumented aliens who potentially qualify for DACA and could benefit from future changes.
 
Until then (1/20/2021) do not expect any changes in the status of DACA.

DRACONIC PROPOSED RULE
 
The Department of Homeland Security published a proposed new rule about aliens who have final orders of deportation but are temporarily released from custody: they will not be eligible to obtain work authorization during the time they are permitted to stay in the U.S.
CHANGES TO THE NATURALIZATION TEST
 
There are 128 new questions in the “bank of questions” that an applicant will have to study to pass the citizenship test. Only 20 questions will be asked and the applicant must answer correctly 12 of the questions in order to pass.
           
The new citizenship test will be administered to applicants who file citizenship applications on or after December 1, 2020. 
 
We have posted a link to the 128 questions on our website so that applicants can prepare themselves for the test.
 
For those 65 and over who have been Legal Permanent Residents (LPR) for 20 years, there are special provisions to apply for a waiver from the test.

RELAXATION OF ANTI-IMMIGRATION PROVISIONS
 
Once President-elect Biden becomes President (on 1/20/2021), how can he soften the anti-immigration policies introduced by President Trump? Mr. Biden can use Executive Orders and cancel the travel ban against Muslim-majority countries, he can reinstate the DACA program, and can speed up – eliminate the delays – in the processing of applications and petitions. But restrictive changes made by the Trump administration as “regulation”, such as the new public charge rule, would have to go through a longer rule making process to be relaxed or changed. 
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