Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Half a Million Immigrants Could Eventually Get US Citizenship Under a New Plan from Biden
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 months ago on
June 18, 2024

President Biden's new plan could offer relief to hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status in the US. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is taking an expansive election year step to offer relief to potentially hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status in the U.S., aiming to balance his own aggressive crackdown on the southern border earlier this month that enraged advocates and many Democratic lawmakers.

The White House announced Tuesday that the Biden administration will, in the coming months, allow certain spouses of U.S. citizens without legal status to apply for permanent residency and eventually citizenship. The move could affect upwards of half a million immigrants, according to senior administration officials.

Qualifications and Process

To qualify, an immigrant must have lived in the United States for 10 years as of Monday and be married to a U.S. citizen. If a qualifying immigrant’s application is approved, he or she would have three years to apply for a green card and receive a temporary work permit, shielded from deportation in the meantime.

About 50,000 noncitizen children with parents who are married to U.S. citizen could also potentially qualify for the process, according to senior administration officials who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity. There is no requirement on how long the couple must have been married, but no one becomes eligible after Monday. That means immigrants who reach that 10-year mark after Monday will not qualify for the program, according to the officials.

Senior administration officials said they anticipate the process will be open for applications by the end of the summer. Fees to apply have yet to be determined.

Political Implications

Biden will speak about his plans at a Tuesday event at the White House, which will also mark the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, a popular Obama-era directive that offered deportation protections and temporary work permits for young immigrants who lack legal status.

Democrats, even after the president’s efforts to restrict asylum earlier this month, hope to sharply contrast Biden with presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and his campaign pledge to deport millions if he is reelected. Trump has leaned into his hardline policies as Biden has faced disapproval of his handling of immigration throughout his presidency, and on Tuesday, Trump’s campaign accused the incumbent president of creating “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,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said.

Because the threat of a second Trump administration looms over Biden’s new policy, Tuesday’s actions will set off a months-long sprint by Latino organizations to get as many people to apply for the program as possible. Trump could dissolve the program if he is reelected, but immigrants who are granted the parole status would still be protected.

Among advocates, Gustavo Torres, the executive director of CASA, said Biden’s announcement would energize Latino communities to get out and support him.

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

The Democratic president will also announce new regulations that will allow certain DACA beneficiaries and other young immigrants to more easily qualify for long-established work visas. That would allow qualifying immigrants to have protection that is sturdier than the work permits offered by DACA, which is currently facing legal challenges and is no longer taking new applications.

The power that Biden is invoking with his Tuesday announcement for spouses is not a novel one. The policy would expand on authority used by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to allow “parole in place” for family members of military members, said Andrea Flores, a former policy adviser in the Obama and Biden administrations who is now a vice president at FWD.us, an immigration advocacy organization.

The parole-in-place process allows qualifying immigrants to get on the path to U.S. permanent residency without leaving the country, removing a common barrier for those without legal status but married to Americans. Flores called it “the biggest win for the immigrant rights movement since the announcement of DACA 12 years ago.”

Tuesday’s announcement came two weeks after Biden unveiled a sweeping crackdown at the U.S.-Mexico border that effectively halted asylum claims for those arriving between officially designated ports of entry. Immigrant-rights groups have sued the Biden administration over that directive, which a senior administration official said Monday had led to fewer border encounters between ports.

The same progressives who were infuriated with Biden’s asylum order praised the president on Tuesday. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, commended Biden and said the actions 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 said. ““Imagine loving someone, marrying them, and then still continuing to fear you would be separated from them.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

A Kamala Harris Quiz for Election Day

DON'T MISS

A Donald Trump Quiz for Election Day

DON'T MISS

CHP Car Struck by Drunk Driver While Investigating Another Crash

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Ejected From Car Dies Off McKinley Avenue

DON'T MISS

‘Leave It the Way It Is’: Off-Roaders, Hikers React to Proposal to Change 1.4M Acres of Sierra Forest

DON'T MISS

Yankees Retain Cole, Add $36 Million Extension to Keep Ace

DON'T MISS

5 Reasons Early Voting Is Overwhelmed With Falsehoods

DON'T MISS

Christian McCaffrey Returns to Practice for the 49ers From Achilles Tendon Injury

DON'T MISS

California Sues LA Suburb for Temporary Ban of Homeless Shelters

DON'T MISS

You May Have Blocked Someone on X but Now They Can See Your Public Posts Anyway

UP NEXT

A Donald Trump Quiz for Election Day

UP NEXT

CHP Car Struck by Drunk Driver While Investigating Another Crash

UP NEXT

Fresno Man Ejected From Car Dies Off McKinley Avenue

UP NEXT

‘Leave It the Way It Is’: Off-Roaders, Hikers React to Proposal to Change 1.4M Acres of Sierra Forest

UP NEXT

Yankees Retain Cole, Add $36 Million Extension to Keep Ace

UP NEXT

5 Reasons Early Voting Is Overwhelmed With Falsehoods

UP NEXT

Christian McCaffrey Returns to Practice for the 49ers From Achilles Tendon Injury

UP NEXT

California Sues LA Suburb for Temporary Ban of Homeless Shelters

UP NEXT

You May Have Blocked Someone on X but Now They Can See Your Public Posts Anyway

UP NEXT

Some Republican-Led States Refuse to Let Justice Department Monitors Into Polling Places

Fresno Man Ejected From Car Dies Off McKinley Avenue

13 hours ago

‘Leave It the Way It Is’: Off-Roaders, Hikers React to Proposal to Change 1.4M Acres of Sierra Forest

13 hours ago

Yankees Retain Cole, Add $36 Million Extension to Keep Ace

15 hours ago

5 Reasons Early Voting Is Overwhelmed With Falsehoods

15 hours ago

Christian McCaffrey Returns to Practice for the 49ers From Achilles Tendon Injury

15 hours ago

California Sues LA Suburb for Temporary Ban of Homeless Shelters

16 hours ago

You May Have Blocked Someone on X but Now They Can See Your Public Posts Anyway

16 hours ago

Some Republican-Led States Refuse to Let Justice Department Monitors Into Polling Places

16 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Fatal NW Apartment Shooting

16 hours ago

Fresno Murder Suspect Stopped in Las Vegas, Others Wanted

17 hours ago

A Kamala Harris Quiz for Election Day

Kamala Harris could make history by becoming the first woman elected president of the United States. What do you know about her? Test your k...

1 hour ago

1 hour ago

A Kamala Harris Quiz for Election Day

trump
1 hour ago

A Donald Trump Quiz for Election Day

A driver suspected of DUI crashed into a parked California Highway Patrol car at a fatal crash scene in Fresno County, sustaining minor injuries and later being cited. (Fresno County SO)
12 hours ago

CHP Car Struck by Drunk Driver While Investigating Another Crash

fresno
13 hours ago

Fresno Man Ejected From Car Dies Off McKinley Avenue

13 hours ago

‘Leave It the Way It Is’: Off-Roaders, Hikers React to Proposal to Change 1.4M Acres of Sierra Forest

New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning in Game 5 of the baseball World Series, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in New York. (AP/Ashley Landis)
15 hours ago

Yankees Retain Cole, Add $36 Million Extension to Keep Ace

Voters cast their ballots at Desert Breeze Community Center in Las Vegas during the last day of in-person early voting in Nevada on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. Nearly 75 million people have cast early ballots, making their voices heard amid worry about the process, the outcome and democracy itself. (Bridget Bennett/The New York Times)
15 hours ago

5 Reasons Early Voting Is Overwhelmed With Falsehoods

15 hours ago

Christian McCaffrey Returns to Practice for the 49ers From Achilles Tendon Injury

Search

Send this to a friend