JOE BIDEN has vowed to “prioritise legislation to create a roadmap to citizenship” for America’s 11 million undocumented workers.
The announcement stands in stark contrast to Donald Trump’s restrictions on immigration.
The President has tightened regulations on legal immigration and international work travel to the U.S. during his time in office, limiting the distribution of visas as part of an approach he believes will help boost American employment.
However, Biden is eager to undo some of these new restrictions and provide more support to undocumented workers "that have been strengthening our country for years."
His statement will come as welcome news to the many thousands of Irish people currently living in the US without a Visa.
Biden has made no secret of his strong ancestral ties with Ireland.
The Democratic candidate has spoken of how he inherited his mother’s side of the family’s "overwhelming pride in being Irish" and "has often spoken how being of Irish descent has shaped his life."
(Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)In addition to providing more opportunities to gain citizenship, Biden vowed to "advance the Northern Ireland Peace Process" and ensure there is "no US-UK trade deal if the implementation of Brexit imperils the Good Friday Agreement."
Biden’s campaign has been keen to note the role he played in helping secure peace in Northern Ireland, liaising with the Friends of Ireland Caucus in Congress.
He has made clear, on repeated occasions, he is opposed to the establishment of any kind of hard border on the island of Ireland.
Biden currently boasts a healthy 10-point lead (Biden 52pc - Trump 42pc) in the latest opinion poll published by the BBC.
However, it is worth noting Hillary Clinton held a similar advantage in 2016 before going on to lose.
