Biden unveils new immigration program offering legal status to 500,000 spouses of U.S. citizens

Washington — President Biden on Tuesday introduced a large-scale immigration program that can supply legal status and a streamlined path to U.S. residency and citizenship to roughly half 1,000,000 unauthorized immigrants who’re married to American citizens.

As CBS News has previously reported, the Department of Homeland Security coverage, referred to as “Parole in Place,” will enable these immigrants to apply for work permits and deportation protections if they’ve lived within the U.S. for a minimum of 10 years and meet different necessities. The program nonetheless requires undocumented spouses to file needed paperwork and move a prison background test, and would not apply to future migrants. The president stated the actions he introduced Tuesday will go into impact “later this summer.” 

“Today I’m announcing a common sense fix to streamline the process for obtaining legal status for immigrants married to American citizens who live here and have lived here for a long time,” the president stated from the White House. “For those wives or husbands and their children who have lived in America for a decade or more but are undocumented, this action will allow them to file the paperwork for legal status in the United States.”

Administration officers estimate that roughly 500,000 unauthorized immigrants with U.S. citizen spouses will qualify for the Parole in Place program. Applicants should have been legally married to their American citizen partner by June 17. Those who’re deemed to pose a risk to nationwide safety or public security is not going to qualify.

The Department of Homeland Security stated the spouses who would profit from the program have been within the nation for a median of 23 years.

The president’s announcement got here throughout an occasion marking the twelfth anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Implemented by President Barack Obama, DACA provided deportation protections for a whole lot of 1000’s of minors who have been introduced to the U.S. as kids, referred to as “Dreamers.” A federal choose in Texas final 12 months ruled that the DACA program is illegal, barring the acceptance of new purposes. 

Mr. Biden’s new program is predicted to unlock a path to everlasting residency — referred to as a inexperienced card — and in the end U.S. citizenship for a lot of of its beneficiaries. If upheld in courtroom, the coverage can be the biggest authorities program to defend undocumented migrants since DACA.

An immigrant who marries a U.S. citizen is mostly eligible for a inexperienced card. But present federal regulation requires immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally to depart the nation and re-enter legally to be eligible for a inexperienced card. Leaving the U.S. after dwelling illegally within the nation for sure intervals of time can set off a 10-year ban, main many mixed-status households to not pursue this course of.

The Biden administration’s coverage would enable eligible immigrants to receive a inexperienced card with out having to depart the U.S. After 5 years of dwelling within the U.S. as a inexperienced card holder, immigrants can apply for American citizenship.

The president blasted his predecessor and 2024 opponent, insisting the U.S. can each safe the border and supply pathways to citizenship. 

“The Statue of Liberty is not some relic of American history,” Mr. Biden stated. “It stands, still stands, for who we are. But I also refuse to believe that for us to continue to be America that embraces immigration, we have to give up securing our border. They’re false choices. We can both secure the border and provide legal pathways to citizenship. We have to acknowledge that the patience and goodwill of the American people is being tested by their fears at the border. They don’t understand a lot of it. These are the fears my predecessor is trying to play on.”