Biden offers citizenship path to spouses of Americans
STORY: “Folks, I'm not interested in playing politics at the border or immigration. I'm interested in fixing it.”
President Joe Biden announced one of the biggest efforts in recent history to legalize undocumented immigrants on Tuesday, offering a path to citizenship to hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the U.S. illegally who are married to U.S. citizens.
It’s an election-year move that contrasts sharply with Biden’s Republican rival Donald Trump's plan for mass deportations.
“The steps I'm taking today are overwhelmingly supported by the American people, no matter what the other team says. In fact, polls show over 70% of Americans support this effort to keep families together. [FLASH] And the reason is simple, it embraces the American principle that we should keep families together.”
According to the White House and Department of Homeland Security, the program will open to an estimated 500,000 spouses who have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years.
Also eligible will be some 50,000 children under the age of 21 with a U.S.-citizen parent.
Those who are considered public security threats or who have disqualifying criminal history would not be eligible.
“I refuse to believe that to secure our border, we have to walk away from being in America.”
Biden, a Democrat seeking a second term in November's presidential election, took office vowing to reverse Trump's restrictive immigration policies.
But faced with record levels of migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border, Biden has toughened his approach in recent months, barring most migrants crossing the border from requesting asylum.
Biden's planned legalization program for spouses of U.S. citizens could reinforce his campaign message that he supports a more humane immigration system.
The program will allow the spouses and children to apply for permanent residence without leaving the U.S., removing a potentially lengthy process and family separation.
Senior Biden administration officials said that the implementation will roll out in the coming months.
