WASHINGTON — White House officials are close to finalizing a plan that would leverage Biden’s executive powers to protect the spouses of U.S. citizens who lack legal status from deportation, offer them work permits and smooth their path to permanent residency and , finally, American citizenship, according to five people with knowledge of the deliberations.
The new plan is being developed a few months before the presidential elections in which Biden seeks presidential re-election, and has adopted measures on immigration in recent days. Undocumented immigration and border security have become the main issues of interest for Americans.
The people said those measures would likely be unveiled as early as next week, although a White House official said Thursday that no final decision has been made on what, if any, Biden will announce. As of earlier this week, officials had not submitted the proposal to Biden for final approval, adding to uncertainty around the timing of any announcement. At the moment, the president is in Italy to participate in the G7 summit.
But last week, when he released his directive to suspend asylum claims at the border — a move that has angered advocacy groups for undocumented immigrants and many Democratic lawmakers — Biden hinted that he would announce other measures that would be more liked by immigrant rights advocates.
“Today I talked about what we need to make the border more secure,” Biden said at the June 4 event at the White House. “In the coming weeks — and I mean the next few weeks — I will talk about how we can make our immigration system more fair and equitable,” the president said.
Almost 10 million undocumented immigrants have been encountered on the southern border, according to the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP), since Biden arrived at the White House.
What benefits?
To protect the spouses of Americans, the federal government plans to use a process called “temporary parole.” Not only does it offer protections against deportation and work permits for eligible migrants, but it also removes a legal obstacle that prevents them from accessing a permanent resident card, or green card, and eventually US citizenship.
He executive power It has already been used for other immigrant groups, such as members of the United States military forces or their family members who do not have legal status.
For Biden’s actions, White House officials were putting together a plan that would offer temporary parole to the spouses of Americans who have been in the country for at least five or 10 yearsaccording to the people familiar with the deliberations, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal White House deliberations.
More than a million could benefit
The immigrant advocacy group FWD.us estimates there are approximately 1.1 million immigrants without legal status married to Americans. However, depending on how the Biden administration writes the proposal, the actual universe of people who could be eligible for the president’s plan is likely to be much smaller.
Pro-immigration groups were also pressing the White House to include benefits for immigrants without legal status who care for American relatives, according to two people familiar with the discussions, although that provision is much less likely to be enacted for now. Allowing those caregivers to apply for so-called “cancellation of removal” would help immigrants such as family members of Americans with specific needs or disabilities.
Source: With information from AP
