Illegal immigration and the Biden administration
Under the Biden administration, the President has worked to reverse some of the stringent immigration policies that former president Donald Trump passed. These policies included stopping the Mexican border wall construction, protecting DACA recipients, and ending the travel ban on several Muslim majority countries. One of his proposed legislations includes the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which would provide a path to citizenship to as many 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country. It would also include DACA recipients, agricultural workers, and Temporary Protected Status beneficiaries. While a majority of Americans support this plan, most of the support comes from Democratic voters.Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of immigrants detained at the Southern border decreased significantly. However, as infection numbers began to decrease in 2021, the number of detainees and undocumented immigrants increased. Alongside supporting progressive immigration legislations, President Biden and Vice President Harris have discouraged migrants from Central and South America from entering the U.S, stating that the journey is too dangerous and to wait for safer measures to cross the border.
Public opinion on immigration
The public opinion on immigration in the United States has become increasingly more favorable over the last 15 years. A 2020 poll on immigration found that 77 percent of American respondents thought that immigration was a good thing for the country, an increase from the 61 percent who agreed with that statement in 2005.In a 2020 poll on illegal immigrants being allowed to stay in the U.S. if they fulfill certain criteria, 75 percent of American respondents believed that illegal immigrants should have a way to them to stay legally if certain requirements are met. Around 24 percent of respondents thought that illegal immigrants should not be allowed to stay in the country legally.
