03 Mar 2021
NILC Summary, Key Provisions, U.S. Citizenship Act
"On February 18, 2021, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and U.S. Representative Linda Sanchez (D-CA) introduced the U.S. Citizenship Act in the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively.1 The bill, which President Joe Biden sent to Congress on his first day in office, would provide a pathway to U.S. citizenship to an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. It reforms our immigration system to prioritize family unity and prevent the issuance of discriminatory bans, restores asylum and other humanitarian forms of relief, and strengthens protections for all workers. The bill also begins to address root causes of migration from Central America and replaces the long stigmatizing term “alien” with “noncitizen” in our immigration law. This summary highlights the National Immigration Law Center’s initial analysis of certain key provisions of the bill and key areas where NILC will advocate for maintaining positive provisions as well as needed improvements. ... "