President Joe Biden is announcing a new immigration program that will see 500,000 immigrants who are married to US citizens offered their residency and citizenship in a more streamlined approach.
The Department of Homeland Security policy will now allow immigrants who are eligible to apply for work permits and deportation protections if they have been living in the country for at least 10 years and meet other requirements, officials shared during a call with reporters.
Biden is set to announce the new program at a White House event on Tuesday, celebrating the 12th anniversary of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals initiative that shields more than half a million people brought to the US as children from deportation.
{snip}
Through the program, immigrants living in the country who are married to US citizens will be eligible to work and live in the country legally on a temporary basis under the immigration parole authority. It will also help them earn legal status without having to leave the country.
Under current US law, an immigrant who marries a US citizen is green card eligible, but if they entered the country illegally, they must first leave and reenter through a legal means to obtain it. However, if you have been living in the US illegally, you could face a 10-year ban, resulting in most not following the process.
But with Biden’s new policy, eligible immigrants would be able to obtain their green cards without having to leave the United States. After five years of holding it, they can apply for citizenship, streamlining a previously bulky process.
{snip}
Applicants will need to have been legally married to their American citizen spouse by June 17 and not pose a threat to national security or public safety.
A date has not yet been set for when the program will be released, though it is expected by the end of summer.
* Original Article:
https://www.audacy.com/wwjnewsradio/news/national/biden-to-offer-legal-status-half-a-million-immigrant-spouses
