The White House is considering providing deportation relief to the more than 1 million people who entered the country illegally before marrying American citizens.
The aid to so-called “mixed-status couples” is seen as a new concession to Democratic voters ahead of the Nov. 5 election and follows potential executive actions by President Biden to tighten border security. It will be. The Wall Street Journal reported.
The outlet added that government officials believe that any backlash against the pardon order will be tempered by voter sympathy for the couple.
Although a final decision is not imminent, the magazine reported that the idea has been gaining momentum since the summer of 2023.
According to immigration advocacy group Fwd.us, about 1.1 million illegal immigrants are married to American citizens.
Immigrants who marry Americans can usually qualify for green cards, but many “mixed-status” couples enter the U.S. illegally multiple times or use falsified legal documents. One partner is not eligible for lawful permanent resident status for a variety of reasons, including:
If the White House moves forward with its plan, it will likely implement a “scheduled parole” program, a version of which already grants parole to spouses, parents and children of active duty military and veterans. stay in the US for one yearaccording to WSJ.
The report said any program would only apply to people who entered the country illegally, not those who entered the country legally and overstayed their visas.
Additionally, the order is expected to only apply to couples who have been married for a certain period of time, such as five or 10 years.
As sanctuary cities across the country face overwhelming numbers of migrants seeking shelter and chaos continues at the U.S.-Mexico border, Mr. It’s empty.
The president has not committed to pursuing executive action to crack down on border crossings, and has said he is unsure whether he has the ability to do so.
“I’m considering whether I have the authority to do that,” Biden said in a Univision interview that aired on April 9.
The White House is pushing Congress to pass a bipartisan bill that includes border security funding, but has accused the House majority of Republicans of blocking the bill’s progress, while White House press secretary Karine – Mr. Jean-Pierre’s funding pales in comparison to Congress’ funding due to the president’s actions.
“There are no executive actions, no executive actions that the president can take, no matter how aggressive, that would eliminate significant policy reforms or significant policy reforms that Congress could have provided that Republicans have rejected,” he said at a news conference. “Additional financial resources can be realized.” February briefing session.
Republicans say Biden has all the authority necessary to secure the border, but he refuses to use it.
“This government continues to ignore sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that it doesn’t like for ideological reasons, and is seeking to unilaterally rewrite immigration law without the participation of Parliament,” Conservative Party chief Matt O’Brien said. said. The Immigration Reform Law Institute and a former immigration judge spoke to the Post.
“This is a continuation of the abusive trends that began with DACA and have now progressed to the deliberate abuse of parole powers and the postponement of deportation,” O’Brien added. “I shudder to think about what will happen next.”
“The INA is very clear: People who violate immigration laws do not get a free pass simply because they married a U.S. citizen or had a child born on U.S. soil. And the White House does not have the authority to unilaterally grant that,” O’Brien argued.
“The process is already in place for immigrant spouses of American citizens to obtain legal status,” said Ken Cuccinelli, a former senior official in the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security and senior fellow at the Center for American Renewal. agree. “They have widespread fraud that needs to be fixed, but I don’t think this administration is interested in that. So this is an immigration crisis that Joe Biden seems intent on making worse, not fixing.” Isn’t it just another aspect of the system?”
The White House did not immediately respond to inquiries from the Post.
Polls consistently show that immigration is the top issue for voters this election cycle. Gallup survey It was shown to be the most important question for 28% of voters in March, after the economy (30%).
