Biden set to open citizenship pathway for spouses and children of US citizens

Joe Biden was set to announce a new action opening a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented spouses and children of US citizens, a sweeping initiative that could provide relief to hundreds of thousands of “mixed-status” families in the country, according to senior administration officials.

Biden is expected to announce the new actions at a White House event marking the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or Daca, which presently shields from deportation nearly 530,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children.

“These eligible non-citizens who have lived here for 10 years or more have deep family and community ties in the United States,” a senior administration official told reporters, previewing the plan. “Many of these families include US citizen children, yet they live in fear and face deep uncertainty about their future.”

Under the policy, undocumented immigrants who have resided in the US for 10 or more years, as of 17 June, and are legally married to a US citizen will be newly eligible to pursue legal status while living and working in the US.

Marrying a US citizen typically opens a pathway to citizenship. But people who entered the US illegally must leave the US before they can apply for permanent residency – a process that can take years and potentially mean long periods of separation from their families in the US. As a result, many choose to stay and risk deportation rather than leave their families. The change essentially allows the government to “admit” these immigrants and begin the status-adjustment process in the US.

“The system doesn’t work like it does in the movies,” said Ashley de Azevedo, the president of American Families United, which represents the undocumented spouses and children of US citizens. “You don’t marry an American and automatically get a green card. There are laws in place that make it impossible for so many.”

Azevedo met her husband, Sergio, on a train to New York City. They had entirely different upbringings: she spent her childhood at the Jersey shore; he grew up on a farm in Brazil. But they “fell for each other right away”.

When they married in 2012, Azevedo assumed her husband would be eligible for a green card. But because he had entered the US illegally, he would have to return to Brazil before becoming eligible to apply for permanent residency. She hopes that will soon change.

The Department of Homeland Security estimates that approximately 500,000 undocumented spouses and 50,000 children – the stepchildren of US citizens – could possibly be affected. According to the administration, those eligible for this process have resided in the US for an average of 23 years.

In a separate move on Tuesday, the president will also announce an effort to streamline the employment visa process for certain undocumented college graduates, including Daca recipients and other Dreamers. To qualify, young people will have had to graduate from a US institution of higher education and have received a “high-skill job offer”, an official said.

The actions come just two weeks after Biden moved to suspend asylum for migrants who cross the border illegally, his most aggressive effort to date and part of an attempt to confront one of the president’s biggest political vulnerabilities.

But the policy drew fierce blowback from progressives and immigrant rights groups who likened it to Trump-era asylum actions and demanded the president keep his campaign-trail promise to protect undocumented immigrants who have lived in the country for decades.

Senior administration officials said the new action reflected the president’s commitment to “keep families together”, an effort to draw a clear distinction from Donald Trump, whose “zero tolerance” border policies separated thousands of children from their parents.

After Biden’s asylum ban, Vanessa Cárdenas, the executive director of the pro-immigration group America’s Voice said Biden needed to show voters that there is a “bright line, clear contrast between the parties on immigration”. Trump, the Republican nominee, has outlined an even harsher immigration crackdown if elected to a second term, including the largest mass deportation campaign in US history.

The process Biden will announce is known as “parole in place”, which provides relief from deportation and access to work permits for undocumented immigrants who live in the US and meet certain requirements. It also makes it easier for some undocumented immigrants to apply for a green card, which then provides a path to US citizenship.

A version of this initiative exists for the undocumented relatives of US service members.

A senior administration official said the department was likely to issue a federal register notice in the coming weeks, with the hope that these immigrants could begin the process of changing their status by the end of summer.

Even before the details were made official, Republicans attacked the action as “amnesty”. Legal challenges are anticipated. Republican-led states have challenged several of Biden’s attempts to expand legal pathways into the US.

But advocates said the action was broadly popular, including among Republicans, in part because many people already believed it was legal.

“I think this is really great policy and great politics,” said Todd Schulte, the president of the immigration advocacy group FWD.us.

With his back-to-back actions this month, the president is trying to distinguish between an immigration system that nearly all of Washington agrees is broken and border enforcement, amid a global wave of migration.

While he confronts rising public concern over the unprecedented levels of migration at the southern border, Biden is also facing pressure from his base to keep his promises to immigrant communities, some of whom have felt left out as newly arrived asylum seekers receive work permits while their undocumented loved ones continue to wait.

Biden is also contending with a disillusioned base, including progressives and immigrant rights advocates who were furious with the president over his clampdown on asylum. Some compared the executive order to a Trump-era asylum policy that was eventually blocked in federal court. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit last week challenging the order.

Gustavo Torres, the president of Casa in Action, said the action could help excite disillusioned Latino voters as polls show Trump making inroads.

“We anticipate that immigrants and Latino voters will express their gratitude at the ballot box in November, rewarding the president,” Torres said.