During his presidential campaign and time in the White House, Donald Trump used anti-immigration rhetoric to make the citizenship process difficult. His administration also threatened to end birthright citizenship, tried to include a citizenship question in the census, and revised the naturalization test to make it more difficult. In his time as president, Joe Biden has reversed those changes and led efforts to encourage eligible immigrants to apply for US citizenship.
From June 30 to July 7, the Biden administration naturalized more than 9,000 immigrants living in the United States. According to a CNN article, the Biden administration also has several strategies to change the immigration status of nearly nine million legal residents and allow them to become citizens. In one of these strategies titled "Interagency Strategy to Promote Naturalization," efforts to move away from anti-immigrant rhetoric include holding naturalization ceremonies in national parks, partnering with the US Postal Service to create promotional posters on how to convert. in US Citizen and collaborate with the Department of Veterans Affairs and Veterans Services organizations to find ways to educate service members and veterans about citizenship.
Many of these efforts stem from one of President Joe Biden's first executive orders that urged federal agencies to develop "welcoming strategies that promote integration, inclusion, and citizenship." Unlike the previous administration, Biden has tried to put a different tone on immigration, underscoring the contributions immigrants make to society.
This new tone was especially evident during a naturalization ceremony on July 2 where Biden welcomed twenty-one immigrants as citizens of the United States before Independence Day. In this ceremony, the president expressed that his administration is prioritizing its immigration reform agenda and working to make a path to citizenship for DREAMERS, for immigrants who are here in temporary protected status - TPS - who came from countries harassed by the violence and disasters caused by man and nature, and for the farm workers who are here putting food on our tables but are not citizens. He also stated that "[the United States] needs an immigration system that reflects our values and upholds our laws" and that it is possible to meet both of these goals.