Washington
CNN
—
On Tuesday, the Biden administration announced an executive action allowing certain spouses and children of undocumented U.S. citizens to apply for lawful permanent residency without leaving the country – a sweeping move in this election year that could provide hundreds of thousands of people with protection from deportation.
The measure will provide legal status and protections to about 500,000 American families and about 50,000 children of immigrants under the age of 21 whose parents are married to a U.S. citizen, a senior administration official said. It is one of the federal government’s largest assistance programs for undocumented immigrants since then-President Barack Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2012.
The measure is designed to appeal to key Latino constituencies in swing states like Arizona, Nevada and Georgia that will be crucial to Biden’s chances of a second term. The move is a peace offering to immigration advocates and progressives, many of whom have sharply criticized Biden for past restrictive measures, including steps taken this month to limit asylum processing at the U.S. southern border.
The president officially announced the measure on Tuesday during a White House event marking the 12th anniversary of DACA: “Today is a good day,” Biden said during the event in the East Room of the White House.
Under current federal law, an undocumented person who enters the United States and marries a U.S. citizen must first apply for parole before applying for legal residency. This process forces them to leave the country if they were there illegally, upending their careers and families and creating uncertainty about whether they will be allowed to re-enter.
Tuesday’s measure allows spouses to apply for residency without leaving the United States – an important change that the Biden administration says will keep families together.
CNN first reported last week that the administration was considering the move. The executive action is already facing legal challenges, but White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that the Biden administration believes the measure is “fully within our legal authority.”
To be eligible for the program, the person must have lived in the United States for at least 10 years and be legally married to a U.S. citizen, according to a White House fact sheet. The application process will begin at the end of the summer.
Lawful permanent residency, commonly known as a green card, allows immigrants to live and work legally in the United States. Green card holders are not allowed to vote in U.S. federal elections.
Tuesday’s executive action, as well as Biden’s immigration policy in general, are likely to be topics of debate next week between Biden and his 2024 rival, former President Donald Trump. Biden said Tuesday he was “not interested in making politics at the border” — but still took the opportunity to criticize his predecessor’s policies.
“When he was president,” Biden said of Trump, “he separated families and children at the border. And now he’s proposing to rip spouses and children from their families, homes and communities and put them in detention camps. He actually says these things. It’s hard to believe it was said, but he actually says these things out loud.”
Before Tuesday’s announcement, the Biden team sought to contrast Trump’s immigration policies with measures the Biden administration believes are designed to keep families together.
“Families belong together – it’s that simple. That’s why President Biden’s actions today are so important. And they are also a stark reminder of Donald Trump’s unforgivable legacy of separating crying children from their parents when he implemented his family separation policy,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.
The president hinted at this move last week, but acknowledged that many immigration activists were unhappy with some of his measures.
“To those who say the steps I’ve taken are too harsh, I say be patient,” Biden said. “In the coming weeks – and I mean the coming weeks – I’ll be talking about how we can make our immigration system fairer and more equitable.”
Immigration groups welcomed news of Biden’s announcement.
“By removing barriers that prevent spouses from staying with their families, he can fulfill his promise to protect those harmed by our broken immigration laws,” Todd Schulte, president of the immigration advocacy group FWD.us, said of Biden in a statement. “We encourage the president to act boldly and with confidence that Americans from across the political spectrum support these responsible protections for people who have lived in our communities and proven their contributions to our country for years.”
Immigration experts point out that the people affected by the change are already eligible for a green card based on their marital status, but can now apply for one from within the United States. Previously, people had to apply from outside the United States and – if they were in the country illegally – remain outside the United States for 10 years.
According to the Migration Policy Institute, the change in status could affect up to 550,000 people. Enabling these people to seek better-paying jobs could bring significant economic benefits.
“If you are not authorized, you remain trapped in the shadow economy,” Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, told CNN. “These are people with suppressed potential who are free to work wherever they want.”
Leading Republican senators sharply criticized Biden before Tuesday’s announcement. Republican Whip John Thune accused the administration of creating further “pull factors” with the planned immigration measures.
“They are increasing the incentive for people to come here illegally,” Thune said. “I am sure they will take action against it.”
Senator Thom Tillis, another Republican who has worked on immigration issues in the Senate, told CNN that a better solution would be a bipartisan bill. Tillis voted against the bipartisan border security bill earlier this year.
Some Senate Democrats praised Biden’s executive order, while those in vulnerable seats tried to toe the line.
Senator Elizabeth Warren praised Biden’s decision, but acknowledged that his earlier order restricting border crossings “was not the way (I) would have approached the matter.”
“But I appreciate the president saying right now that family is important to Americans and that we will do everything we can to protect the spouses of American citizens,” she said.
Senator Sherrod Brown, an at-risk Democrat from Ohio, declined to say whether he supports the new regulation. “I don’t know enough about it yet,” he told CNN.
“A good idea would be for Congress to finally pass the bipartisan border security bill and immigration legislation. Presidents of both parties have failed and I am confident we will do that and make a real difference,” he added.
Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat in a vulnerable constituency, also declined to say whether he supports Biden’s executive order. “I’ll have to look at what the president proposes – I haven’t seen the proposal yet, I’ll wait until I see it,” he told CNN.
However, he praised Biden’s decree earlier this month aimed at restricting border crossings.
“I think it was right to make this proposal, even though it is obviously being questioned,” he said.
Democratic Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois, whose husband is a DACA recipient, said the executive action was welcome news – but added that there is still “more work to be done.”
“There are still hundreds of thousands of people who are in the shadows who will be watching the news today and wondering if this finally means I’m finally coming out of the shadows, and for many, that doesn’t mean it yet,” Ramirez told CNN shortly before attending the White House event with her husband, Boris, to mark Biden’s announcement.
Biden also announced on Tuesday that his administration would ease the process of obtaining work visas for college graduates with an offer of a highly skilled job.
This story has been updated with further developments.
CNN’s Sam Fossum, Kayla Tausche, Lauren Fox, Morgan Rimmer and Manu Raju contributed to this report.
