Utah immigration lawyer analyzes Biden’s executive action

SALT LAKE CITY – On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced an executive action on immigration that is primarily aimed at protecting two groups of immigrants.

According to CNN, the measure would help the following people on their path to American citizenship:

1. Spouses of American citizens without a permanent residence permit.
2. Children of undocumented immigrants or “dreamers”.

AP News reported that this will allow these two groups in particular to apply for citizenship without having to leave the country.

“Simplifies the process” for spouses without residence papers

Local immigration attorney Carlos Trujillo said these changes will affect thousands of people here in Utah, including at least 150 people he already works with.

“This is for the people who have waited so long … who have been so afraid of the process. They can finally come out and say, ‘Okay, let’s do it.'”

In the past, the rule was that undocumented immigrants married to a U.S. citizen had to return to their home country before receiving legal status, Trujillo said.

This measure could allow them to complete their paperwork in the United States.

It can also help undocumented spouses apply for work permits, Trujillo said.

“While you are married to a U.S. citizen and working toward your green card, you do not have a work permit,” he said.

Ultimately, this measure could simply streamline an existing but stalled process.

Related: Utah Governor’s Office Fights Back at Denver for Busing Immigrants to Utah

“Most of these people have already qualified for a process. The process they qualify for is called the Counselor Process,” he said.

However, the waiting time for such a process is currently around seven to nine years.

The federal government expects that about half a million people will be affected, but Trujillo assumes that the number will be significantly higher.

“Many of these people, in my experience, live in secret, so the government may not even know about them,” he said. “There were people who were so afraid to leave the country … that they just didn’t.”

How this affects “dreamers”

Trujillo explained that the measures related to DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) are fairly straightforward.

“Many of these DACA recipients who have been working legally for all the years since President Obama put this program in place for them have encountered a problem,” Trujillo said.

“Let’s say they graduate from a U.S. university, they found an employer, they’re doing a great job, and they want more security. And the employer wants to help them with a work visa. But the problem is that many of these kids came into the country illegally and need special permission. That exemption has been a bottleneck for many, if not all, of these DACA recipients.”

Today’s announcement means that there will be better rules and procedures for these people so that employers can now officially hire them.

This could trigger a lawsuit

Trujillo expects that these new rules will lead to a lawsuit very soon.

“It’s really because there have been so many lawsuits and changes to DACA in the past,” he said.

“It’s very clear that it’s going to continue to be a game of ping-pong where they keep throwing this issue, this family, these children, from one side to the other, giving them hope and taking it away. So it’s hard to really be happy about it.”

Be careful of fraud

Trujillo warned that many people are taking advantage of immigration enforcement actions to defraud those affected.

He said the new rules the President issued today are not yet in effect. There are not even forms to fill out yet.

Trujillo said people would have to wait until the move became official and lawyers like him had the federal government’s forms.