President Joe Biden will unveil a new program offering a pathway to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens, marking a significant shift from Republican rival Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans.
The program will be available to approximately 500,000 spouses who have resided in the U.S. for at least ten years as of June 17, according to senior Biden administration officials.
Additionally, around 50,000 children under 21 with a U.S.-citizen parent will also be eligible. Most beneficiaries are expected to be of Mexican origin.
This initiative allows spouses and children to apply for permanent residence without leaving the U.S., thus avoiding lengthy procedures and potential family separations. They can eventually apply for U.S. citizenship. Biden, a Democrat running for re-election, has pledged to reverse many of Trump’s restrictive immigration policies. However, facing record levels of migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border, Biden has recently adopted tougher measures.
Earlier this month, Biden implemented a ban on most migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border from seeking asylum, mirroring a similar Trump-era policy. The new legalization program for spouses aims to highlight Biden’s commitment to a more humane immigration system, contrasting sharply with Trump’s hardline stance on immigration.
Biden is scheduled to announce the program at a White House event on Tuesday, coinciding with the anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
DACA, launched in 2012 by then-President Barack Obama and Vice President Biden, currently provides deportation relief and work permits to 528,000 individuals brought to the U.S. as children.
On Tuesday, the Biden administration is also expected to introduce guidance facilitating the process for DACA recipients to obtain skilled-work visas.
U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat, a Democrat attending the event, mentioned that this relief for spouses aims to balance recent border enforcement measures.
In contrast, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt criticized Biden’s program as “amnesty” and reiterated Trump’s deportation promises, asserting he would “restore the rule of law” if re-elected.
Polling by Reuters/Ipsos shows that slightly over half of U.S. voters support deporting all or most undocumented immigrants. However, separate polling by the advocacy group Immigration Hub revealed that 71% of voters in seven battleground states favor allowing spouses residing in the U.S. for more than five years to stay.
Rebecca Shi, executive director of the American Business Immigration Coalition, noted that focus groups with independent and Republican voters show support for legal status for spouses, emphasizing that it boosts voter turnout among Latino and base voters while also garnering support from moderates and conservatives.
One couple eagerly awaiting more details on the program is Megan, a social worker from Wisconsin, and her husband Juan, whom she met two decades ago during a summer job at a restaurant while in college
