The Biden administration is taking executive action to protect undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens — which would protect about 500,000 immigrants from deportation.
The White House announced the election-year policy on Tuesday, framing it “New measure to keep families together.” As immigration lawyers and Democratic lawmakers and President Joe Biden court Latino voters in key battleground states, an executive action to protect spouses could soon be announced, NBC News reported.
Lawmakers have been briefed on the plan and at least some have been invited to the White House for an announcement, the sources said.
“This is the biggest thing since DACA,” said one source familiar with the matter, an immigration attorney, who called it a smart political move by the Biden administration.
Foreshadowing possible battles over policy, the White House has been keen to emphasize that it has been tough on illegal border crossings and has worked to dismantle people-smuggling networks.
Biden “believes it is necessary to secure the border,” it said in a press release outlining the new measure Tuesday.
“He believes in expanding legal pathways and keeping families together, and for decades immigrants from the United States, who pay taxes and contribute to their communities, are part of our nation’s social fabric,” the statement said.
The measure aims to provide “significant benefit to the country” by allowing non-citizens who have been in the country for at least 10 years and are married to a US citizen and their children to apply for permanent residence without leaving the country. .
Eligible spouses have been in the U.S. for an average of 23 years, the report added.
The program would ease the path to green cards and U.S. citizenship for some undocumented immigrants.
Sources also say undocumented spouses will be allowed to obtain work permits on a case-by-case basis.
The move includes plans to allow DACA recipients who graduate from higher education and seek work in the same field to quickly obtain work visas.
These measures are expected to be challenged in court.
Noting the possibility of lawsuits, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senate Majority Whip Dick Turpin, D-Ill. In a statement, he said, “The only measure would be to enact legislation that would fully allow these eligible individuals to root.” , to start families, further their education, and continue to contribute to our society without fear of deportation, “but he noted that Republican opposition to previous immigration changes is unlikely.
