After spending most of
his life in the United States, Mauricio Lopez was deported to Mexico under outgoing US President Donald Trump’s tenure. Now, as President-Elect Joe Biden’s taking over of reins
sparks some hope for Lopez.

The 26-year-old
English teacher is one among many migrants who were taken to the US by their
parents when they were young. 

 Like many Mexicans who
were ousted, Lopez now dreams that President-elect Biden will take measures to
protect undocumented migrants.

“It would be good
for us if he relaxes immigration laws … if there are asylum processes, if he
makes it easier for us to obtain work permits or tourist visas, since many of
us have families there,” he said.

Lopez was deported to
Mexico from North Carolina in 2016 due to his inability to renew his residency
permit under the DACA program for unauthorized immigrants brought to the United
States as children. He was expelled with his mother, leaving his sister behind,
but joining a brother who has already been deported to Mexico years ago.

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Lopez is one of a
thousand deportees trying to blend in a country that feels foreign to them. Around
89,000 Mexicans were deported from the United States in the first half of this
year, according to the interior ministry.

Widespread expulsions
have also occurred under Democratic administrations. About three million unauthorized
immigrants were expelled by former president Barack Obama between 2009 and
2016, when Biden was vice president.

Biden has shown a
disagreement with Trump’s policies, who vowed to expel more than 10 million undocumented
migrants living in the United States and cease all immigration.

Trump attracted
resentment during his 2016 election campaign when he branded Mexican migrants
“rapists” and drug dealers, and promised to build a wall along the
Southern US border.

Experts however
believe that Biden may be in a tough spot in the Republican-controlled Senate, depending
on the result of runoffs in the state of Georgia on January 5.

“Even with the
best will of the new government, it (change) won’t happen imminently,”
said Leticia Calderon, an expert on migration at Mexico’s Mora Institute.

The Democrat’s win
should not be seen as an “invitation to migrate” because “the
bad guy is leaving and now the good guys” are in the White House, she
said.

“The immigration
system in the United States has no political party.”

However, she does
expect Biden to take some action to address rights for the thousands of Mexican
“dreamers” to stay and work in the United States.

“It’s likely that
they will deal with it in the first 100 days of government, but it has to go
through the Senate,” where it is likely to meet resistance, Calderon said.

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Lopez has his hopes
pinned, not for himself, but  for all the
other young migrants who may benefit under the new administration.

“The Dreamers
feel more positive with Biden. There’s hope that they have a route to
citizenship or residency,” he said.

Around 12 million
people born in Mexico live in the US, as well as another 26 million who have at
least one parent or grandparent born on Mexican soil.