Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
The assumption of Joe Biden to the presidency of the United States arouses the hope of a change of helm in the hard migratory policy towards the region of the North Triangle of Central America and with this the possibility of the regularization of more than a million Hondurans living and working in the American Union.
This hope is fueled by the election promise of the new White House tenant, who pledged to send Congress a comprehensive immigration reform proposal in the first few years. one hundred days of his Government.
This commitment gained momentum after Vice President-elect Kamala Harris reiterated last week that a reform proposal is being prepared to pave the way for residency and citizenship for millions of undocumented people residing in the United States.
The Biden administration will focus on reducing waiting times for citizenship from 13 to eight years, granting automatic green cards to undocumented immigrants protected by Temporary Protection Status (TPS) and the Deferred Action Program for to Child Arrivals (DAC) and appoint immigration judges to lessen delays in court hearings, Harris said.
according to Chancellery of Honduras, in the United States 15,490 Hondurans live under protection in Dhaka and 42,407 under the TPS, not counting thousands of undocumented compatriots. It is estimated that the Honduran community in that country exceeds one million people.
Get to know the region
Lisandro Rosales, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Honduras, told LA PRESSA that Biden knows the region, the difficulties and challenges we face and did not hesitate to put the migration issue of the region on his agenda.
“This issue of irregular migration has been worked on with him in the past and I think he will support actions that, within the law, make regular and orderly migration possible, there are many factors that influence this and he knows them very well; i’m sure your team work too and it will be part of their agenda, “he said.
Rosales did not hide his optimism at the possibility that thousands of Hondurans under the TPS and Dhaka would finally achieve migratory regularization in the Biden administration.
“In the case of those currently within the TPS and Dhaka we have hope, based on the promises made by President Biden’s government team, specifically Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Who announced that in the first 100 days of government will be sent to the United States Congress, a bill to “correct” as she called it, the mistakes made on the issue of migration, after recognizing the high levels of discrimination and separation of families, ”he said
He stressed that the Chancellery is working hard on this issue and one of the important actions taken at the end of the previous year, was to formally request a new TPS and this year immediately that the new administration takes over will continue with the relevant arrangements.
“I know the solidarity of the United States and the traditional cooperative relations between the two countries, will allow us compatriots who have been in the United States for several years and who contribute to the economy of that country with their work, even pay taxes accordingly. with what they receive for their work, they have a chance to avoid the anguish of thinking they will be deported. “
In this context, Rosales estimated that it is feasible to achieve a new TPS for compatriots who arrived in the US before Hurricanes Eta and Iota, given the announcements made by the newly elected authorities and that it was part of their strategy to campaign i they have reiterated it now after their election.
“But we must always consider that it is a sovereign decision of the United States. We make the request based on good relations and mutual cooperation agreements, but it is the power of the United States to define on its migration policy,” he clarified. the head of Honduran diplomacy.
high expectations
Juan Flores, president of the September 15 Florida-based Foundation, said Biden’s arrival in the presidency has generated huge expectations in the Hispanic community, especially among Hondurans living in that country.
“The expectations are very high not only for the Honduran community, but for the entire migrant community in this country, as they have offered a migration reform and the TPS can be given if the arrangements are made well, as it goes resign the internal secretary of security which is what he had to sign this TPS request, “he said.
Flowers reported that organizations are doing the same in Washington to push the TPS and see if a new request is made or the request that was made is reinforced.
“Another aspect is that there is a lot of hope, not only for the migrant community, but for the peoples of the region, as they acted firmly in strengthening democracy and fighting the corruption that it affects our nations, ”he added.
The Honduran leader noted that there is a new rhetoric towards the migrant community, very different from that which prevailed in the four years of Donald Trump’s government, in which Hondurans were the most affected by the harsh retention policies. of children at the border, separation of families and rejection of asylum applications.
“Hondurans who had been asking for help were virtually rejected and are still in tents in Mexico, coupled with hatred towards the migrant community and towards the weakest,” he said.
Pause
For now, the Honduran community is breathing a sigh of relief after last December the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the extension of the TPS for beneficiaries in El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan.
The notice automatically extends until October 4, 2021, including work permits and all documentation related to TPS.
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In 100 days Biden will be dedicated to cleaning up anti-migrant legacy The first hundred days of President Joe Biden’s government will be key to clearing Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant legacy and taking steps toward comprehensive immigration reform, according to immigration analyst and expert Ricardo Porta. “The first hundred days are to clean up Trump’s legacy, here there is nothing positive, here everything is negative in the sense that everything Trump has done leaves him as an anti-immigrant legacy that needs to be removed and then come the proposed measures. immediate is to regularize all those who are illegal in the United States or whose permission needs to be renewed, here are the Tepesians, the dreamers and the 12 million undocumented people out there, ”he said. Porta clarified that this does not mean that Biden opened the borders to leave them like a Swiss cheese for all those affected by Hurricanes Eta and Iota to enter, but to work on the regularization or normalization of those already in the United States under a status such as the TPS and Dhaka. “The issue of illegal safe order migration will come to me in the first year of government, once Trump’s legacy has been cleaned up and the people inside are already somehow normalized. “he said. The migration expert considered that the fact that Biden has a majority in Congress and the Senate facilitates the possibility of normalizing the situation of more than 10 million undocumented people. Biden promised in his political campaign to send in its first 100 days an immigration reform initiative to give residence to thousands of undocumented immigrants in the United States. |