The administration of President Joe Biden will announce this Wednesday a new program that will allow more than half a million undocumented migrants to be regularized.
The decision, which will mainly benefit people married to Americans, comes less than five months before the presidential election for which the immigration issue has become a fundamental aspect.
According to an EFE report, the provision is one of the most important since Barack Obama created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, allowing more than 800,000 migrants to obtain work permits and legal protection.
El presidente Joe Biden anunciará una nueva medida que permitirá a algunos migrantes casados con ciudadanos estadounidenses obtener un estatus legal. #LasNoticias con @Carlos1Hurtado | #DecideInformado | Sigue la señal por https://t.co/JpgbIc5YLX pic.twitter.com/p5uO9XVEVQ
— NMás (@nmas) June 18, 2024
The new policies will take months to take effect and will give migrants the opportunity to take only the first step in the process of obtaining residency in the United States, which can take years.
The parole
The program is based on the famous “parole,” a legal figure that grants those already in U.S. territory protection against deportation and allows them to apply for a work permit.
With this permit, which will be valid for three years, migrants who entered the country irregularly and are married to U.S. citizens can apply for residency and, eventually, citizenship.
To apply for this benefit, the person must have married a U.S. citizen before June 17, 2024, and have lived in the country for at least 10 years.
In turn, children under 21 years of age of those who are married to Americans and who also do not have legal status can also obtain the permit.
However, migrants who have been deported from the United States in the past do not qualify for this protection, according to officials.
The announced relief allows migrants to apply for residency, also known as a “green card,” while in U.S. territory.
In addition to this program, the U.S. government will seek to “improve” the process by which some of those who arrived in the country as children and have not yet regularized their situation can apply for work visas.
According to administration officials, cited by CNN, this change could benefit at least 500,000 non-regularized spouses who are on average 23 years old in the United States, and at least 50,000 minors under 18 years of age;. However, the number of those facing this situation would be much higher.
