The bill would have made sweeping changes across the board to the United States immigration, visa, and border control system, including reversal and Congressional prohibition of many of the immigration-related executive actions of former president Donald Trump; providing a path to legal residence and eventual citizenship for as many as 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, as well as current DACA and Temporary Protected Status beneficiaries, essential workers on a non-immigrant status, and agricultural laborers; recreating the V visa program to allow families to await immigrant visa approval together in the US; ending country-specific visa annual maximums; granting immediate relative status to spouses and children of green card holders; and other changes.
The first, in a Presidential Memorandum to the Attorney General of the United States and the Secretary of Homeland Security, aims to reinstate the DACA program.
Facing Republican opposition, the White House indicated the possibility of breaking the reform bill into pieces so that portions more likely to be approved (like the DACA, and employment visa provisions), could pass sooner.
Besides, existing state, local and private not-for-profit programs promoting integration and inclusion, including English language training, would receive supplemental federal funding.
[19] According to a CATO analysis, without removing these limits, a person chargeable to India applying today would need to wait 150 years to get a green card under the EB-2 category.
Once permanent residence is obtained, immigrants would then have the ability to apply for citizenship after a waiting period and if conduct and civic knowledge requirements are met.
Additionally, any non-citizen who left the US under a deportation, removal, or exclusion order or under voluntary departure, and was either outside the US on the January 1 cutoff or illegally re-entered after that date, would be ineligible.
The lawful prospective immigrant card will serve as a travel document, and holders of that status will not need a visa nor advance parole to return to the US after absences of no more than 180 days if they continue to meet the eligibility requirements.
The act would provide a path to permanent residence and citizenship for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals beneficiaries and others who entered as children, who currently only hold protection from deportation and work privileges under executive order, not statute.
Any noncitizen who arrived in the US prior to age 18 (whether or not they were accompanied at the time and regardless of the legality of their initial entry) would be able to become a permanent resident, along with their spouse and children, if they have: graduated from high school or obtained a high school equivalency certification; registered for the Selective Service if required; and has either completed 2 years of or finished a bachelor's degree program or a postsecondary vocational program, served in the uniformed services for at least 2 years and not received a less than honorable discharge, or has earned income for at least three years and at least 75% of the total time they have held employment authorization, excepting such periods when they were enrolled in postsecondary education.
By itself, it currently does not provide any pathway to citizenship or lawful permanent residence, though time spent under TPS is not unlawful presence and does not prevent later applications that are otherwise available.
To address what the Biden administration considers the 'root cause of migration', the legislation allows for up to $4 billion in aid to Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, "conditioned on their ability to reduce the endemic corruption, violence, and poverty that causes people to flee their home countries".
It would also create Designated Processing Centers throughout Central America, allowing displaced persons to apply for resettlement either to the United States or to partner countries.
As of April 10, 2024: Lobbying for the bill in the United States Senate was led by Sen. Bob Menendez, who indicated gathering the necessary 10 Republican votes would be a 'herculean' challenge.
The first, in a Presidential Memorandum to the Attorney General of the United States and the Secretary of Homeland Security, aims to reinstate the DACA program.