WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Tuesday granted far-reaching new protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have been living in the United States illegally for years but are married to American citizens.
Under the new policy, some 500,000 spouses will be shielded from deportation and given a pathway to citizenship and the ability to work legally in the United States. It is one of the most expansive actions to protect immigrants since Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, was enacted 12 years ago to protect those who came to the United States as children.
“These couples have been raising families, sending their kids to church and school, paying taxes, contributing to our country,” Biden said at the White House, where he was joined by members of Congress and DACA recipients, known as Dreamers. “They’re living in the United States all this time with fear and uncertainty. We can fix that.”
Biden also said he would make it easier for young immigrants, including Dreamers, to gain access to work visas, a significant move that could help them eventually get a green card. That would protect their legal status even if DACA, which is already tied up in litigation, disappears.
The new policy allows Biden to balance his recent crackdown on asylum with a sweeping pro-immigrant measure at a moment of political peril. With five months until the presidential election, Biden has been trying to curtail record numbers of illegal border crossings without alienating longtime supporters who have called for a more humane immigration system after the Trump years.
The policy aims to help people who have been living in the United States for more than a decade, building lives and families here. Even though marrying an American citizen generally provides a pathway to U.S. citizenship, people who crossed the southern border illegally — rather than arriving in the country with a visa — are required to return to their home countries to complete the process for a green card.
The new program allows them to remain in the country while they pursue legal status.
The new benefits for spouses will not take effect right away; senior Biden administration officials said they expected the program to begin by the end of the summer. Those eligible will then be able to apply for the benefits.
“The president is sending a message that immigration is not just about the border,” said Marielena Hincapié, an immigration fellow at the Cornell Immigration Law and Policy Program. “He’s focusing on long-term immigrants, not recent arrivals.”
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