President Biden’s campaign manager appeared to avoid a question Wednesday about whether the president’s new executive order opening a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants was a political move to shore up votes ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Julie Chavez Rodriguez appeared on CBS News’ “America Decides” on Wednesday night for an interview with Finn Gomez.
Gomez asked Rodriguez why the president’s new policy was being implemented now, “with four and a half months to go until the November 5th election”.
President Biden spoke at a White House event marking the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Young People’s Arrivals program. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Rodriguez said immigration reform will be a major priority for the Biden administration from day one. He also slammed former President Trump for urging Republicans to vote against a bipartisan immigration bill earlier this year.
Gomez asked Rodriguez whether he thought Biden’s new policies would encourage “families from all walks of life” who would benefit from them to vote for the president.
Rodriguez said families covered by Biden’s executive order “will be able to sleep easy tonight knowing we have an opportunity to work together to ensure they are not separated by cruel policies.”
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“Because of this executive order, they’re going to be able to hold each other a little tighter knowing that their families can be together in this country, and that’s what matters most,” Rodriguez said.
Gomez noted that many Latino voters are turning away from President Biden and called on Rodriguez to address critics who say the executive order is a “political move to maintain support with Latino voters.”
President Biden is announcing new changes to allow families with DACA Dreamer spouses seeking a change of immigration status to stay together. (Andrew Layden/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Rodriguez reiterated his immigration policy accomplishments since taking office, including expanding the Affordable Care Act to recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
The issue of border security was not mentioned at all in the interview. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Biden campaign and the White House for further comment.
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Biden announced Tuesday that his administration would allow spouses of U.S. citizens without legal status to apply for permanent residency and ultimately citizenship without leaving the country for up to 10 years, a move that could benefit about 500,000 immigrants, administration officials said.
To qualify, immigrants must have lived in the U.S. for 10 years as of Monday and be married to a U.S. citizen.
Immigrant rights activists rally in front of the Supreme Court in 2019. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
The Obama-era DACA program protected hundreds of thousands of people who came to the U.S. as children from deportation, but required applicants to be present in the U.S. as of June 15, 2012, and continuously for the past five years.
More than 1 million illegal immigrants living in the United States are married to U.S. citizens, according to immigration advocacy group FWD.us, meaning hundreds of thousands are ineligible because they’ve been in the country for less than 10 years.
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About 50,000 foreign children of parents married to U.S. citizens may also be eligible, according to a senior administration official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.
Biden also announced new regulations that will make it easier for some DACA recipients and other young immigrants to obtain traditional work visas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
