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The Biden Administration is considering a plan that will automatically allow people with DACA or TPS to become Lawful Permanent Residents of USA. (DACA, short for "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals", is a program that grants prosecutorial discretion and work authorization to persons who came to the USA before turning 16 years of age. TPS, short for "Temporary Protected Status", is a somewhat similar program in that it grants a reprieve from deportation to foreign nationals who are inside the USA and whose homelands recently faced some sort of strife, natural disaster and/or other catastrophe).
In 2017 and 2018, the Trump administration announced that TPS benefits would terminate in March 2021 for citizens of Haiti, Nicaragua, Nepal and Sudan, and in November 2021 for citizens of El Salvador. (Salvadorans comprise the majority of persons affected by the aforementioned terminations of TPS). For now, TPS benefits will be extended to October 2021 for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan, Honduras, and Nepal.
Other countries have been given different extension dates.
Syria: March 21, 2021
Yemen: September 3, 2021
Somalia: September 17, 2021
South Sudan: May 2, 2022
The possibility that persons currently receiving DACA or TPS benefits may soon have a pathway to U.S. Lawful Permanent Residence is nothing short of phenomenal news. Absent such leniency, the vast majority of those individuals would have no choice but to uproot their lives and return to their native countries, or remain in the U.S. and dwell in the shadows.
While the Biden Administration has been vague in detailing how this proposed plan would work, it nevertheless represents the most hope that these individuals have been able to anticipate in the past several years.
In a Univision interview, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris also revealed the administration's intention to decrease the time that such persons must spend in the U.S. before being eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship.
The coming year will unquestionably be fraught with even further changes to the U.S. immigration system. Follow us on social media to keep abreast of the latest news.
Twitter: @MurrayLawNJ Facebook: @MurrayImmigration Linkedin: @Dean P. Murray
We assist countless foreign nationals and we will be happy to personally assist you with your application as well. Send us an E-mail or call us at (888)354-6257. For reasons on why you should consult an immigration attorney whenever you have an immigration issue, see our page titled: Reasons Why it is Vital to Use an Immigration Lawyer.
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