“If President Biden gets his way, it will soon be far easier to immigrate to the United States. There will be shorter, simpler forms and applicants will have to jump through fewer security hoops. Foreigners will have better opportunities to join their families and more chances to secure work visas. A 46-page draft blueprint obtained by The New York Times maps out the Biden administration’s plans to significantly expand the legal immigration system, including methodically reversing the efforts to dismantle it by former President Donald J. Trump, who reduced the flow of foreign workers, families and refugees, erecting procedural barriers tougher to cross than his ‘big, beautiful wall.’ Because of Mr. Trump’s immigration policies, the average time it takes to approve employer-sponsored green cards has doubled. The backlog for applications is up 80 percent since 2014, to more than 900,000 cases. Approval for the U-visa program, which grants legal status for immigrants willing to help the police, has gone from five months to roughly five years.”

“In almost every case over the last four years, immigrating to the United States has become harder, more expensive and takes longer. And while Mr. Biden made clear during his presidential campaign that he intended to undo much of his predecessor’s immigration legacy, the blueprint offers new details about how far-reaching the effort will be – not only rolling back Mr. Trump’s policies, but addressing backlogs and delays that plagued prior presidents. The blueprint, dated May 3 and titled ‘D.H.S. Plan to Restore Trust in Our Legal Immigration System,’ lists scores of initiatives intended to reopen the country to more immigrants, making good on the president’s promise to ensure America embraces its ‘character as a nation of opportunity and of welcome.’ ‘There are significant changes that need to be made to really open up all avenues of legal immigration,’ said Felicia Escobar Carrillo, the chief of staff at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, of the efforts to reverse Mr. Trump’s agenda. ‘In the same way that they took a broad-stroke approach to closing off avenues, I think we want to take a broad approach toward opening up the legal avenues that have always been available but that they tried to put roadblocks up on'” – New York Times.