O'Neil Baker Law LLC FAQs

President Biden presented The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 to Congress on January 20, 2021, but it is not law yet. There is currently no new immigration law that has been passed.

No, the U.S. Citizenship Act has not passed through Congress. The act is not law nor in effect at this time.

The proposed immigration reform will do numerous things:

1. It provides a path to legal status to all undocumented immigrants. The act provides an eight-year pathway for undocumented individuals who were in the U.S. on January 1, 2021. There is an initial five-year period of temporary status and then citizenship after three years.
2. It provides legal status and relief to immigrants who were deported by President Trump who have been in the U.S. for three years prior to being deported. 
3. It provides direct permanent residency for DACA, TPS, and essential worker recipients.
4. Children and spouses of legal permanent residents will be considered immediate relatives under the INA.
5. It will clear up the visa backlogs and increase the per-country caps for family-based immigration.
6. It eliminates the per-country cap for employment-based petitions.
7. It ends the three- and 10-year bar to admissibility for unlawful presence in the U.S.
8. It provides temporary admission for those in a visa backlog.
9. It will create a refugee processing center in Central America.
10. It proposes government-funded counsel for children in removal proceedings.
11. It increases the number of immigration judges to address the backlog and improve technology in removal proceedings.

If the law passes, the act will benefit undocumented individuals who are present in the U.S. on January 1, 2021. The act will also benefit current DACA recipients.

Yes, if you were present in the U.S. on January 1, 2021. Or if you were in the U.S. for three years and deported during President Trump’s administration.

On President Biden’s first day of office, he made the following changes that affected immigrant populations:

1. Rescinded President Trump’s executive order which eliminated the enforcement priorities for removal.
2. Provided a 100-day moratorium on deportations and revoked guidelines on the NTA policy.
3. Ended the Muslim ban and reconsidered visa denials based upon the prior ban.
4. Protected and fortified DACA.
5. Offered new relief for Liberians.
6. Paused border wall construction.
7. Rescinded President Trump’s census executive order.
8. Suspended the MPP program.

President Biden has ordered the reassessment of the humanitarian focus of asylum and refugee law to get back to its purpose.

President Biden is attempting to reunite the 600 families still separated and create a task force to deal with the trauma from the cruel policy through trauma and mental health services.

President Biden seeks to restore the legal immigration system, focus on rescinding the public charge requirements, and remove the barriers to naturalizations (such as fees and delays).