By Mariane Angela
The Biden administration is developing a plan to provide legal status to illegal immigrants, CBS News reported Friday.
The Biden administration is reportedly preparing to announce an immigration relief initiative that could affect hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants living in the United States. The program under development would provide work permits and deportation protections to unauthorized immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens, contingent upon them having resided in the U.S. for at least 10 years, according to sources cited by CBS News.
Biden preparing to offer legal status to undocumented immigrants who have lived in U.S. for 10 years https://t.co/UjMQREcNtO pic.twitter.com/b8kmktEovn
— CBSColorado (@CBSNewsColorado) June 15, 2024
This initiative, known as “Parole in Place,” aims to also facilitate a route to permanent legal status and ultimately, U.S. citizenship for eligible individuals by circumventing a current legal hurdle, the outlet reported. This hurdle typically bars those who entered the U.S. illegally from obtaining green cards without first leaving the country. (RELATED: GOP Rep Says Biden Is ‘Too Little, Too Late’ On Attempt To Address Border Crisis, Pointing To Polling)
Additionally, the Biden administration is working on simplifying the waiver process for DREAMers and other undocumented immigrants. This would potentially make it easier for them to acquire temporary visas, such as the H-1B visas designated for highly skilled workers.
These proposals are expected to be announced in conjunction with the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program at a White House event. This event is intended to celebrate DACA, which currently shields approximately 530,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation, CBS News stated.
The “Parole in Place” plan could represent the most expansive immigration program for unauthorized immigrants since DACA, which was instituted by former President Barack Obama in 2012, the outlet stated. The new policy is targeted at a subset of the estimated 1.1 million unauthorized immigrants who have American citizen spouses, provided they meet certain residency and other criteria.
This move is part of Biden’s broader strategy to address immigration issues through executive action, especially in the face of congressional gridlock on the matter, according to CBS News.
