Biden announces new immigration protections affecting 500,000 people

Biden announced immigration measures at event marking 12th year of DACA
Under new policy, immigrant spouses can apply for citizenship while in U.S.
DACA recipients also have a faster path to getting work visas

Updated: Jun 18, 2024 / 06:50 PM CDT

(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that those under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will be able to receive work visas faster.

“These young people known as Dreamers — Hispanics, South Asians and more — who came to America as children, who only know America as their home, have been able to live and learn out of the shadows,” Biden said. “So many of them have graduated from high school and college and are starting families on their own, building successful careers serving our nation in uniform and so so much more. We’re much better and stronger nation because of Dreamers.”

At an event marking the 12th anniversary of DACA, Biden also spoke about a program he unveiled called “Parole in Place,” which gives some immigrant spouses of American citizens a path to citizenship while staying in the country.

FILE – Susana Lujano, left, a dreamer from Mexico who lives in Houston, joins other activists to rally in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on June 15, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Parole in Place, Biden said, is about keeping families together.

“These couples have been raising families, sending their kids at church and school, paying taxes contributed our country for 10 years or more…but living in the United States, all this time, with fear and uncertainty,” Biden said. “We can fix that. And that’s what I’m going to do today.”

Both of these come just two weeks after the president announced a series of executive actions aimed at limiting the flow of illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border. Included in this were measures making people who cross the southern border unlawfully ineligible for asylum, barring unusual circumstances, as well as higher standards for what constitutes threats of violence or torture in someone’s country of origin.

Biden, speaking in a room full of immigration advocates and Democratic politicians, acknowledged concerns they had about these executive actions, though maintained that as commander-in-chief, he had to take them.

“Every nation must secure its borders,” he said Tuesday. “It’s that simple.”

Despite the frustration that stemmed from these executive actions, one immigration advocate told NewsNation that Biden’s policies on DACA and immigrant spouses are a “step in the right direction.”

New DACA regulations allow recipients to more easily qualify for long-established work visas. This protection is sturdier than the work permits currently offered by DACA, as they are currently facing legal challenges.

To be eligible, young immigrants must have earned a degree at an accredited U.S. institution of higher education and also have an offer of employment from an American employer related to their degree, the White House said.

Meanwhile, new protections for immigrant spouses will provide legal status for about 500,000 American families and roughly 50,000 noncitizen children of immigrants who are under the age of 21.

To be eligible for Parole in Place, noncitizen spouses must be legally married to a U.S. citizen and have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years. However, immigrants reaching that 10-year mark after Monday will not qualify for the program.

While the current law states that spouses in the country illegally must leave the U.S. to apply for legal status based on marriage, Parole in Place would allow them to stay in the country as they wait as long as they are not a national security threat. The plan would also allow a pathway for stepchildren of those U.S. citizens who are under 21 years old.

If a qualifying immigrant spouses’ application is approved, they would have three years to apply for a green card and receive a temporary work permit.

Republicans, including President Biden’s rival in the 2024 election, former President Donald Trump, slammed the plan. Trump’s campaign said in a statement to NewsNation that it’s a “mass amnesty plan.”

Andrea Flores, a vice president at FWD.us, an immigration advocacy organization, noted in an interview with the Associated Press that Biden’s announcement on immigrant spouses expands on authority used by Republican President George W. Bush, and Biden’s predecessor, Democratic President Barack Obama. Both previous presidents had a “parole in place” policy for family members of people who served in the military, Flores said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.