President Joe Biden is taking executive action to protect illegal spouses of U.S. citizens — a move that would protect nearly 500,000 immigrants from deportation.
The White House announced its election year policy on Tuesday, crafting it as follows “New action to keep families together.” NBC News reported last week that action to protect spouses could be announced soon, as immigration advocates and Democratic lawmakers have urged it and the president seeks to woo Latino voters in key battleground states.
Under the new policy, noncitizens who have lived in the country for at least 10 years and are married to a U.S. citizen, and their children, will be able to apply for permanent residence without leaving the country.
During a ceremony at the White House, Biden called the measures a “common-sense solution” to a system that is “cumbersome, risky and tears families apart.”
He said the order would come into effect this summer and stressed that it would not benefit those who have recently come to the country. Instead, it would help those who have been “paying taxes and contributing to our country” and their family members.
“This is the biggest thing since DACA,” said one source familiar with the matter, who is an immigration attorney.
Under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, announced in 2012 by then-President Barack Obama, immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children were allowed to stay in the country.
Foreshadowing potential clashes over the policy, the White House has emphasized that it is tough on illegal border crossers and working to dismantle human smuggling networks.
A news release outlining the new action Tuesday said the president “believes securing the border is essential.”
“He believes in expanding legal pathways and keeping families together, and that immigrants who have lived in the United States for decades, paying taxes and contributing to their communities, are part of our country's social fabric,” the statement said.
The statement said that the spouses eligible to apply for this have been living in America for an average of 23 years.
The program would also make it easier for some illegal immigrants to obtain green cards and become U.S. citizenship.
Sources also say that undocumented spouses will be allowed to obtain work permits on a case-by-case basis.
This action includes a plan to allow DACA recipients who have earned a higher education degree and are seeking a job in the same field to obtain work visas more quickly.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., immediately criticized the administration's announcement, characterizing it as “granting amnesty to millions of illegal aliens” and saying it would “encourage more illegal immigration and endanger Americans.”
The new program is likely to be challenged in court.
Given the likelihood of lawsuits, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that passing the legislation “would be the only step that would allow these deserving individuals to fully put down roots, start families, further their education, and continue contributing to our society without fear of deportation.” But he also acknowledged that passing the bill through Congress would be impossible given Republican opposition to past immigration reforms.