Biden helps immigrant spouses of US citizens: what you need to know

WASHINGTON

President Biden announced executive actions Tuesday aimed at protecting hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status from deportation.

One of Biden's actions will protect immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens who have lived consecutively in the country for at least a decade. This decision allows these immigrants to quickly access American citizenship to which they are entitled through marriage.

Biden made the announcement during a White House event Tuesday afternoon marking the 12th anniversary of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era program that protected more than 800,000 immigrants brought to the United States as children. He called it a common-sense solution and the right thing to do.

The protections for citizens' spouses come two weeks after Biden announced a separate executive action restricting access to asylum at the southern border.

We can both secure the border and provide legal pathways to citizenship, Biden said. I am not interested in playing politics with the border and immigration. I just want to fix it.

Five months before the elections, the president is trying to appeal to a wide range of voters. The asylum rule was a move to the right that could help him win support from moderates, while the latest announcement appeals to the left, angered by the asylum restriction. Polls have shown many voters are concerned about immigration as the number of people crossing the Mexican border has increased. Former President Trump made criticism of Biden's immigration policies a cornerstone of his campaign to win back the White House.

How will the immigrant spouse program work?

The administration will implement a program known as parole, which will allow people to work legally and adjust their immigration status without having to leave the country.

Currently, immigrants who enter the country legally and marry U.S. citizens can obtain green cards that make them legal residents. But the vast majority of those who enter illegally and marry must, as punishment for circumventing immigration law, return to their home countries and cannot return for years, often at least a decade.

Many of these immigrants have instead chosen to remain in the United States without legal status and continue to risk deportation.

Parole in place allows the government to ignore illegal entry, making it easier for people to continue the process of becoming legal residents.

How many people could be protected?

Administration officials said the measure would protect about 500,000 immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens and about 50,000 young immigrants with a U.S. citizen stepparent.

To qualify, immigrants must have resided in the United States for 10 years or more as of June 17 and be legally married to a citizen. On average, people eligible for the process have lived in the United States for 23 years.

Eligible immigrant children must be under the age of 21, unmarried, and their parents must have been married before the child turned 18.

At the White House on Tuesday, First Lady Jill Biden described a common scenario, that of an immigrant who came to the United States for work, fell in love and built a life here.

But a shadow looms over you: a missing piece of paper, the possibility that your family won't be able to stay together, she says. It’s a story that too many families experience every day across the country.

Officials said they plan to begin accepting applications by the end of summer and will consider them on a case-by-case basis. Approved individuals will become eligible for work authorization for up to three years. They will also have three years to apply for permanent residency.

Anyone posing a threat to national security or public safety will be arrested and removed by the Department of Homeland Security or referred to other federal agencies for further investigation, the officials said.

Officials said they expect most applications to come from immigrants from Mexico, as well as large numbers from Central America.

Those without legal status and married to U.S. military personnel have been eligible for a similar benefit since 2010.

What else is the White House planning?

In a separate move, the Biden administration is also making it easier to obtain work visas more quickly for immigrants without legal status, including those with DACA and other so-called Dreamers.

The change applies to those who graduated from a US university and received a job offer in a field related to their degree. Some work visas, such as the H-1B for workers in specialty occupations, offer a path to citizenship, although serious delays mean the process can take decades for nationals of some countries.

Under U.S. law, anyone without legal status must leave the United States before applying for a visa and being allowed to return. Officials said the guidelines will provide more certainty and speed in this process for workers who do not have this status.

What are the supporters saying?

Business groups and other advocates have urged Biden for months to extend protections and work authorizations to some longtime immigrants without legal status.

This is a tremendous step forward by President Biden and a much-needed delivery on the promise to keep families together, said Todd Schulte, president of the advocacy organization FWD.us. We celebrate alongside millions of people whose futures are brighter today, we support those who still await similar protections, and we renew our commitment to protecting this progress and fixing all aspects of our broken immigration system, including providing a path to citizenship for those who have waited too long.

California Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat, praised Biden for taking bold steps to give immigrants hope.

The individuals and families who will benefit from these protections contribute enormously to our economy and our country, Padilla said. They are living proof that the American dream still exists and that today it is progressing.

Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragn (D-San Pedro), chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said caucus leaders met with Biden in May to ask him to use existing parole authority to protect more immigrants .

Today is a happy day for many immigrant families across America, she said. There will be tears of joy accompanied by sighs of relief as the importance of these executive actions from President Biden sinks in for these families.

What do the critics say?

Critics said the move amounted to another example of Biden circumventing Congress and abusing the parole power. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) called it an election-year stunt.

That's what the Border Patrol calls a pull factor, Cornyn said during a Senate floor speech Monday. It's like a magnet, drawing people to the United States who know that if they wait long enough, President Biden will find a way to allow them to stay in the United States, even if they circumvent legal means of entry into the country.

Others said the visa change would bog down the backlog of immigrants waiting for a green card and were skeptical of the federal government's ability to process hundreds of thousands of applications before the election and a possible change of status. 'administration.

In a statement, the immigrant rights organization DREAM Team LA called for immigration reform rather than more Band-Aids.

We have tears: tears from children translating documents into English for their parents who have been denied adjustment status; tears when families take their mothers to the airport for deportation; tears when children return to an empty house because both parents were taken away by CBP without explanation, without authority to care for them, DREAM Team LA wrote. No, the Democratic Party has no merit in wiping away the tears it itself provokes.

The new rule is expected to face legal challenges, but Biden administration officials said Monday they believe they have a solid legal basis.

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