The Biden administration announced on Tuesday sweeping executive action to provide legal protections to tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens.
The order, touted by the White House as an effort to “keep families together,” protects the spouses of American citizens from deportation and provides them with work permits if they have lived in the country for at least a decade.
An estimated 1.1 million illegal immigrants are married to U.S. citizens and Biden’s new program, referred to as “parole in place,” could benefit nearly 500,000 people. Under the program, eligible individuals will have three years to apply for permanent citizenship.
“President Biden believes that securing the border is essential,” the White House said in a statement. “He also believes in expanding lawful pathways and keeping families together, and that immigrants who have been in the United States for decades, paying taxes and contributing to their communities, are part of the social fabric of our country.”
Biden celebrated the executive action at a White House event celebrating the 12-year anniversary of former president Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which shields illegal-immigrant children from deportation. The Biden administration previously announced executive action to make DACA recipients eligible for Obamacare.
The Biden administration is also crafting a plan to streamline the process for undocumented students and other illegal immigrants to receive temporary work visas.
“I’m announcing measures to clarify and speed up work visas to help people including dreamers,” Biden stated. “It’s the right thing to do.”
“We can fix that,” Biden said of the “fear” and “uncertainty” faced by the couples affected by his executive order. “It embraces the American principle that we should keep families together.”
Although DACA has survived legal challenges up to this point, it’s unclear if Biden’s new executive action will have a similar fate, particularly given the composition of the Supreme Court.
The political consequences of Biden’s new relief program for illegal immigrants could worsen his standing on the immigration issue. His handling of illegal immigration is viewed extremely negatively by the American public as record numbers of people have flooded the southern border since he took office.
A poll taken by CBS from June 5-7 found over 60 percent of Americans, including a majority of hispanics, favor mass deportations of all the illegal immigrants living in the U.S. currently.
Separate polling from Gallup in April showed immigration to be the most important issue for the American electorate for the third straight month, and the most polarizing of all the most important issues Gallup has recorded over the past quarter century.
Biden seemed to acknowledge the polling later in his speech when he suggested his latest measures are not incompatible with border security.
“We have to acknowledge that the patience and goodwill of the American people is being tested,” Biden said, addressing the immigration debate.
“They don’t understand a lot of it. These are the fears my predecessor is trying to play on,” he added, referring to former president Donald Trump.
Attempting to change public perception, Biden signed an executive order earlier this month significantly restricting the number of illegal immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S., after claiming for months he could not do so without congressional authorization. Republicans criticized his executive order for being insufficient to prevent illegal immigration and progressive Democrats criticized it for supposedly casting aside vulnerable migrants.
Biden’s 2024 presidential election opponent, Donald Trump, frequently touts his administration’s policies meant to reduce illegal immigration, and promises to oversee mass deportations if he wins a second term.