Long title | To provide an earned path to citizenship, to address the root causes of migration and responsibly manage the southern border, and to reform the immigrant visa system, and for other purposes. |
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Announced in | the 117th United States Congress |
Number of co-sponsors | 153 |
Legislative history | |
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The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 was a legislative bill that was proposed by President Joe Biden on his first day in office.[1][2][3] It was formally introduced in the House by Representative Linda Sánchez.[4] It died with the ending of the 117th Congress.
The bill would have made sweeping changes across the board to the United States immigration, visa, and border control system, including reversal and Congressional prohibition of many of the immigration-related executive actions of former president Donald Trump; providing a path to legal residence and eventual citizenship for as many as 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, as well as current DACA and Temporary Protected Status beneficiaries, essential workers on a non-immigrant status, and agricultural laborers; recreating the V visa program to allow families to await immigrant visa approval together in the US; ending country-specific visa annual maximums; granting immediate relative status to spouses and children of green card holders; and other changes.[5]