President Joe Biden is set to unveil a significant new immigration policy aimed at providing deportation relief for tens of thousands of individuals married to U.S. citizens. This move, scheduled for announcement on Tuesday, is seen as a bold step on immigration by many Democrats.
The policy, building on an Obama-era directive that shielded young undocumented immigrants from deportation, will introduce a program offering a 'parole in place' opportunity for approximately 490,000 spouses of U.S. citizens. This initiative will safeguard them from deportations and grant work permits if they have resided in the country for a minimum of 10 years.
The White House, while refraining from commenting on the specifics of the announcement, is expected to host families who stand to benefit from this policy change at an event on Tuesday afternoon.
Administration officials have been exploring various avenues to extend protections to immigrants without legal status but with deep-rooted ties in the U.S. This move comes after the administration previously proposed stringent measures that impacted asylum processing at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Biden is leveraging an authority that not only provides deportation protections and work permits but also eliminates a legal barrier for eligible immigrants to apply for permanent residency and, eventually, U.S. citizenship. This authority has been utilized for other immigrant categories, including members of the U.S. military and their family members lacking legal status.
In a recent address at the White House, Biden emphasized the need to secure the border and hinted at forthcoming actions to reform the immigration system for enhanced fairness and justice.
Additionally, Biden is expected to announce a policy shift that would make recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program eligible for visas instead of temporary work authorization.
Congressional Hispanic Caucus members have advocated for extending work visa eligibility to graduates of U.S. colleges who arrived in the country as children without authorization.
The White House event marking the 12th anniversary of the DACA program, established by former President Barack Obama to safeguard young immigrants without legal status, commonly referred to as 'dreamers,' is set to take place on Tuesday afternoon.
