Biden shields 500,000 undocumented spouses from deportation

Move to also protect 50,000 noncitizen children under 21; ease visa process for US college graduates, including Dreamers

By Arun Kumar

President Joe Biden Tuesday issued a new ‘Parole in Place’ program to protect undocumented spouses of American citizens, aiming to prevent their deportation, issue work permits, and create a path to citizenship.

The ‘Parole in Place’ program will protect approximately 500,000 undocumented immigrants from deportation, including Indians living in mixed-status households.

The Tuesday morning announcement comes amid the 12-year anniversary celebration of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

For “Keeping American Families Together,” the Department of Homeland Security will take action to ensure that US citizens with noncitizen spouses and children can keep their families together, according to a White House announcement.

“This new process will help certain noncitizen spouses and children apply for lawful permanent residence – status that they are already eligible for – without leaving the country,” it stated.

These actions, the White House said, “will promote family unity and strengthen our economy, providing a significant benefit to the country and helping US citizens and their noncitizen family members stay together.”

In order to be eligible, noncitizens must – as of June 17, 2024 – have resided in the United States for 10 or more years and be legally married to a US citizen, while satisfying all applicable legal requirements. On average, those who are eligible for this process have resided in the US for 23 years.

Those who are approved after DHS’s case-by-case assessment of their application will be afforded a three-year period to apply for permanent residency. They will be allowed to remain with their families in the United States and be eligible for work authorization for up to three years. This will apply to all married couples who are eligible.

This action will protect approximately half a million spouses of US citizens, and approximately 50,000 noncitizen children under the age of 21 whose parent is married to a US citizen.

Tuesday’s announcement will also ease the visa process for US college graduates, including Dreamers, the White House stated.

President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Biden established the DACA policy to allow young people who were brought here as children to come out of the shadows and contribute to our country in significant ways, the White House noted. Twelve years later, DACA recipients who started as high school and college students are now building successful careers and establishing families of their own, it said.

Tuesday’s announcement will allow individuals, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers, who have earned a degree at an accredited US institution of higher education in the United States, and who have received an offer of employment from a US employer in a field related to their degree, to more quickly receive work visas.

“Recognizing that it is in our national interest to ensure that individuals who are educated in the US are able to use their skills and education to benefit our country, the Administration is taking action to facilitate the employment visa process for those who have graduated from college and have a high-skilled job offer, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers” the White House stated.

Biden’s move comes weeks after the administration adopted a crackdown on asylum at the US-Mexico border that angered the same groups the new measure is designed to please.