all New Biden Administration Policies Legislation announced Tuesday would give about 500,000 immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens but lack legal status in the U.S. a path to citizenship for them and their children.
One of President Joe Biden's. The most comprehensive immigration policy And it was something that immigrant advocates had heavily lobbied the administration to do.
Here's a look at the new policy: who can benefit and how.
How did things work before?
Under U.S. immigration law, it can be a simple process for an American to marry someone who is not a citizen but lives in the United States. If your spouse is applying for a long-term permanent resident card (called a green card)
However, if your spouse has been in the United States illegally for a long time, the process becomes much more complicated.
They often have to leave their home country to apply. Depending on how long you have been in the U.S. without permission, you may need to remain abroad for 3 to 10 years before you can apply to return. You can apply for a waiver to avoid having to wait that long overseas, but it also takes an average of three and a half years to get one.
They must go abroad, apply to a consulate (waiting times can be long), and receive permission to return to the United States.
“There is a risk of prolonged separation, especially if things go wrong,” said Elizabeth Taufa, policy attorney and strategist at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.
Faced with the prospect of having to leave their families in the United States for a lengthy process that may not work, many people decide to stay in the shadows.
How is Biden changing immigration policy?
Under the new policy, many spouses without legal status can now apply for lawful permanent residency and eventually become citizens without leaving the United States. But it is not a blanket approval.
To be eligible, you must have lived in the United States for at least 10 years, not pose a security threat, and be married by June 17, 2024. They must apply to the Department of Homeland Security, which considers: In some cases, the department I wrote it on an explanatory fact sheet. New policy. The immigrant spouse cannot have previously entered the country or been paroled.
Biden said applicants would be screened for previous immigration and criminal records, including for possible fraud.
Once the Department of Homeland Security approves the application, the White House said. You then have three years to apply for a green card and can obtain a work permit for up to three years.
About 1.1 million immigrants without legal status have married U.S. citizens in the U.S., according to immigration advocacy group FWD.us. The administration believes that ultimately about half that number, about 500,000 people and about 50,000 of their children, could benefit from the program.
On average, spouses lived in the United States for about 20 years, the White House said. A senior administration official said on a call with reporters that he expects the majority of people benefiting from the program to be from Mexico.
How does this fit with Biden's other immigration policies?
The Biden administration has been pursuing two strategies on immigration and border security over the past year and a half.
On the one hand, Biden has made it much more difficult to qualify for asylum at the southern border and has stepped up deportations of people who do not qualify to stay. Immigration advocates criticized Biden's decision this month. Asylum processing halted After arriving at the southern border, we hit a certain number per day.
Meanwhile, the government has taken several measures to allow people to enter the country.
To give the biggest example, the administration last year created a program that would allow people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to come to the United States if they had a financial sponsor and enter U.S. airports after passing a background check. As of the end of April, 434,800 people had arrived through the program from those four countries.
Many advocates have urged the administration to do more for immigrants who have been in the U.S. illegally for decades.
Are there any changes to the ‘Dreamer’ program?
Separate from the policy for immigrant spouses, the administration also announced changes designed to help people participating in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program more easily obtain long-established work visas.
In 2012, the Obama administration provided child deportation protection and temporary work permits to people brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents. Many of them, often known as “dreamers,” are now parents.
Many companies that hire DACA recipients may apply for work visas that are more stable and provide a pathway to permanent residency, said Dan Berger, co-founder of Cornell Law School. Path2Papers is an organization that helps dreamers obtain work visas and find other ways to obtain lawful permanent residency.
However, to receive a work visa, DACA recipients must apply for and receive a waiver to travel abroad and re-enter the United States. Berger said because the waiver process is very slow and provides little guidance, employers and DACA recipients don't want to try it.
“Having clear guidelines and clear expectations really helps,” he said.
What are your future plans?
The Department of Homeland Security should write guidance on how the spousal program works. Biden said at an event Tuesday that the program would take effect by the end of the summer.
Processing all applications is the responsibility of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security. The agency has historically struggled. Provide funding to reduce backlogs and waiting times.
Republicans and immigration opponents have fiercely criticized the proposal, and opponents are almost certain to file a lawsuit to block it.
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