US Democratic nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden inches away from claiming the presidency against President Donald Trump, but the race is still too tight to call.

In case a new administration takes over the White House, however, what would it mean for the Overseas Filipinos (OFs)?

In an interview with the Filipino Times, international relations expert and University of Asia and the Pacific assistant professor Robin Michael Garcia said ‘diversity’ will be much celebrated under Biden compared to the immigration policies of Trump’s ‘America First’.

“Diversity is going to be celebrated more under Biden. Policies will be less stringent, and we may see the reversal of the merit-based immigration policy of Trump,” Garcia said.

Trump administration unveiled the new immigration plan last year which aims to curb the influx of new immigrants through more restrictive “merit-based” system. Many feared that it might frustrate nearly 4 million people’s ‘American Dream’. Even those who have worked long and hard for more than a decade to be on the waiting list for a green card.

According to State Department statistics, nearly 314,000 of those in the waiting list are Filipinos.

Meanwhile, Garcia also noted that under a Biden presidency, the Philippines will see a major shift in terms of defense ties with Uncle Sam, but it might also bring about positive outcomes.

Trump and President Rodrigo Duterte, who even endorsed the incumbent US president, has always had a good diplomatic relation. This was in stark contrast during the time of former president Barack Obama, one of Biden’s staunch campaign supporter. Duterte had repeatedly criticized Obama for interfering in the country’s domestic affairs.

Garcia explained, “My sense is Trump is not serious about their rhetoric on protecting the Philippines against China and it’s probably just an election speech.”

“At the same time, President Duterte probably be called out more strongly for alleged human rights violations. But this is a balancing act for Biden because we [the Philippines] might be drawn closer to Beijing if they overdo global human rights activism,” he added.

In another interview, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said that there are about two million Filipino voters in America and the Filipino community is divided on whether life would be better under Trump or Biden.

“It was pretty much divided. That’s the way we saw it when we met with Fil-Am leaders here. California, Democratic bailiwick, in northeast quite a number of Fil-Am representative conservatives. It’s clear we have a very strong force here in the US. We’re highly respected here,” Romualdez said.