Half A Million Immigrants Could Eventually Get US Citizenship Under A New Plan From Biden

Washington — President Joe Biden is taking a broad election-year step to provide relief to potentially hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants in the United States, seeking to balance his aggressive crackdown on the southern border earlier this month, which enraged advocates and many Democratic lawmakers.

The White House said on Tuesday that the Biden administration will allow select spouses of US citizens without legal status to apply for permanent residency and, eventually, citizenship. Senior government officials estimate that the move might affect up to half a million immigrants.

To qualify, an immigrant must have been in the United States for ten years as of Monday and be married to a US citizen. If a qualifying immigrant’s application is approved, he or she will have three years to apply for a green card and a temporary work permit while avoiding deportation.

Biden | NBC Image

Half A Million Immigrants Could Eventually Get US Citizenship Under A New Plan From Biden

According to senior administration officials who briefed reporters on anonymity, approximately 50,000 noncitizen children with parents married to U.S. citizens may also be eligible for the process. No criteria exist for how long the pair has been married, but no one is eligible after Monday. That implies that immigrants who reach the 10-year milestone after Monday will not be eligible for the programme, according to officials.

Senior administration officials expect the procedure to be available for applicants by the end of the summer. The application fees have yet to be determined.

Biden will discuss his plans at a White House event on Tuesday. The event will also commemorate the 12-year anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, a popular Obama-era directive that provided deportation protections and temporary work permits to young immigrants without legal status.

Democrats, despite the president’s efforts to limit refuge earlier this month, seek to contrast Biden with probable Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his campaign promise to deport millions if reelected. Trump has leaned into his extreme ideas as Biden has received criticism for his handling of immigration during his term; on Tuesday, Trump’s campaign accused the incumbent president of presenting “another invitation for illegal immigration.”

“Biden only cares about one thing — power — and that’s why he is giving mass amnesty and citizenship to hundreds of thousands of illegals who he knows will ultimately vote for him and the Open Border Democrat Party,” Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the

Biden | CNN Image

Half A Million Immigrants Could Eventually Get US Citizenship Under A New Plan From Biden

Because the prospect of a second Trump administration hangs over Biden’s new policy, Tuesday’s moves will kick off a months-long scramble by Latino organizations to recruit as many individuals as possible to apply for the program. If Trump is reelected, he has the authority to end the program, but immigrants granted parole status will remain protected.

Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA, said Biden’s statement would energize Latino communities to show their support.

“This is what our communities have needed to rally behind President Biden for reelection,” he stated.

The Democratic president will also unveil new regulations that would make it easier for certain DACA recipients and other young immigrants to apply for long-term work permits. That would provide qualifying immigrants with more protection than the work permits granted under DACA, which is now facing legal challenges and is no longer accepting new applications.

Biden’s announcement for wives on Tuesday does not represent a fresh exercise of power. Andrea Flores, a former policy adviser in the Obama and Biden administrations and now a vice president at FWD.us, an immigration advocacy organization, said the policy would expand on the authority used by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to allow “parole in place” for family members of military members.

The parole-in-place process allows qualified immigrants to begin obtaining permanent residency in the United States without leaving the country, removing a common obstacle for people without legal status who are married to Americans. Flores described it as “the biggest win for the immigrant rights movement since the announcement of DACA 12 years ago.”

Biden | Reuters Image

Half A Million Immigrants Could Eventually Get US Citizenship Under A New Plan From Biden

Tuesday’s news came two weeks after Biden announced a broad crackdown at the US-Mexico border, effectively halting asylum requests for anybody traveling between legally recognized ports of entry. Immigrant rights groups have sued the Biden administration over the policy, which, according to a senior administration official, has resulted in fewer border crossings between ports.

The same leftists who were outraged by Biden’s asylum order praised the president on Tuesday. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, praised Biden’s actions, saying they would help keep American families together.

“Many Americans would be shocked to hear that when a U.S. citizen marries an undocumented person, their spouse is not automatically eligible for citizenship,” she stated. “”Imagine falling in love with someone, marrying them, and then being afraid of losing them.

SOURCE – (AP)