President Joe Biden detailed a new immigration action plan on Tuesday to offer potential citizenship to hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status in the U.S.
The president announced that his administration will, in the coming months, allow certain U.S. citizens’ spouses without legal status to apply for permanent residency and eventually citizenship without having to first depart the country. The action by Biden, a Democrat, could affect upwards of half a million immigrants, according to senior administration officials.
“The Statue of Liberty is not some relic of American history. It still stands for who we are,” Biden said from a crowded East Room at the White House, filled with advocates, congressional Democrats and immigrants who would be eligible for the program. “But I also refuse to believe that for us to continue to be America that embraces immigration, we have to give up securing our border. They’re false choices.”
How to qualify
To qualify for Biden’s actions, an immigrant must have lived in the United States for 10 years and be married to a U.S. citizen, both as of Monday. 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 and be 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.
Caribbean legislators react
Caribbean-American Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke was among those who welcomed President Biden’s “commonsense” immigration plan to support long-standing undocumented Caribbean and other immigrants.
“Undocumented Americans have come to represent an irreplaceable element of our social and economic fabric,” said the representative for the predominantly Caribbean 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn. “Yet, far too many have remained plagued by uncertainty surrounding their status. Thankfully, through the Biden-Harris administration’s historic action today, we are on the humanitarian path forward.”
Clarke said this policy change “stands among the most significant steps to protect immigrants and their families since President Obama first announced DACA.
“For undocumented spouses of US citizens. whose future in our nation is now secured, the many children living in mixed-status households who were at risk of losing a parent to deportation, and the countless other Americans who are proud to hold an undocumented person close to their hearts, the immediate and meaningful impact of this moment cannot be overstated,” the congresswoman said.
“President Biden’s announcement is an essential step in our fight to provide undocumented Americans the lives they deserve, and the stability we are each entitled to,” she added. “Moreover, it upholds the truth that our first priority is, and must always be, to keep families together.
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.
Biden also announced 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.
