President Joe Biden announces initiatives for Latino education, immigration

July 17 (UPI) -- The Biden administration on Wednesday announced new benefits for Hispanic-serving institutions to boost higher educational opportunities for Latinos.

President Joe Biden will sign an executive order creating the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through colleges federally designated as Hispanic Serving Institutions, of HSIs.

It also created the President's Board of Advisors for HSIs to increase awareness of opportunities for HSIs, identify best practices, improve STEM offerings, and strengthen recruitment and support.

These entities will, among other things, work to Increase awareness of opportunities for HSIs to take part in federal programs and improve their ability to line up program offerings with economic needs of their local communities and the country at large "especially in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and teaching," the White House said.

HSIs have Latino student populations of 25% or more along with other criteria specifically serving Hispanic students and the community. Such colleges have been designated in 27 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington.

"President Biden and Vice President [Kamala] Harris are working to ensure that all Latino families and communities can achieve great opportunities," the White House said in a statement. "Over the past three years, the administration has taken historic action to expand opportunity for Latino families and communities."

The administration also announced that starting on Aug.19, eligible spouses and children of noncitizens who have been with their citizen spouses or parents for 10 years or more can apply for processing to obtain legal status. The administration announced the program on June 18.

The administration said the Education Department will propose a new rule making it easier for young people connected with the federal DACA program to register for college, expanding access to legal representation for those involved in immigration court and ensuring access to immigration services.

Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will also provide up to $2.6 million to help small public and nonprofit organizations establish new citizenship programs and train staff to assist lawful permanent residents in navigating the naturalization process.