Joe Foreign Policy Whiz KidBiden
The former Senator-for-Life from Delaware, an example of the kind of top-notch Washington intellect to be found in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body...
said, as the administration weighs a broader revamp of federal immigration policy.
The move modifies a program that now lets as many as 4,000 people a year from Cuba and Colombia seek refugee status when coming to the U.S. The change would allow people under age 21 from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to be eligible, Biden said today. It would apply only to people not already in the U.S. who have a parent in the U.S. legally, he said.
"It provides those seeking asylum a 'right way' to come to our country, as opposed to crossing the border illegally." Biden said at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington.
Because the offer applies only to people with parents living lawfully in the U.S., it won't help most kids who need it, said Jennifer Podkul, senior program officer at the Women's Refugee Commission in Washington.
"Some of the most vulnerable kids have parents who don't have legal status in the U.S.," she said. "It's a good first step but it's not going to be panacea for this problem."