On June 18, the Biden administration announced an executive action to allow certain noncitizen spouses and children of U.S. citizens to remain in the country while they apply for full citizenship.
Before the administration took this action, noncitizens married to U.S. citizens could apply for citizenship, but most were first required to leave the country and wait to be processed abroad. Typically, this waiting period lasts three to 10 years, unless undocumented immigrants obtain a “hardship waiver” that proves their families would suffer extreme hardship without them, beyond typical financial and emotional distress. This policy resulted in a “prolonged, potentially indefinite, period of separation” from their families, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DES) said in a statement.
Under the Biden administration’s Keeping American Families Together plan, DHS will review undocumented spouses’ applications to stay in the country on a case by-case basis. Also called parole-in-place, this benefit has been available to spouses and children of military members since 2010. To be eligible for parole-in-place under Biden’s newest action, noncitizens need to have lived in the U.S. for 10 or more years, be married to a U.S. citizen as of June 17, 2024, and satisfy all “applicable legal requirements,” including having a clean criminal record.
The policy affects about half a million undocumented spouses and 50,000 undocumented children, according to the administration. About 90,000 of those spouses are in the U.S. thanks to the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, which prevents the deportation of undocumented children and people who immigrated when they were children.
The new Biden executive action is one of the latest in a series of steps the administration has taken after congressional Democrats failed to get new immigration legislation past Republican legislators. The administration reports it also has deployed record numbers of law enforcement officers to the border and barred illegal immigrants from receiving asylum when the volume of border crossings exceeds a certain threshold.
The Trump campaign condemned Biden’s latest action, characterizing it as a political move to offer “mass welfare programs and voting for Democrats. Biden’s plan “will undoubtedly lead to a greater surge in migrant crime, cost taxpayers millions of dollars they cannot afford, overwhelm public services, and steal Social Security and Medicare benefits from American seniors to fund benefits for illegals,” Trump’s campaign Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote.
Other Republican elected officials condemned the executive order as well. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the move granted “amnesty to thousands of illegal aliens,” and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) called the order “unconstitutional.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) criticized the action in a letter to DHS. “Amnesty for illegal aliens is absolute ly unacceptable,” he said. “It is a lure that will drive millions more illegal immigrants to flood across our southern border. It is a slap in the face to U.S. taxpayers. And it is totally unfair to immigrants who entered the U.S. legally.”
Conversely, Christian organization World Relief praised the action. “As a Christian organization that be lieves God has ordained marriage and the family unit, World Relief celebrates policies that keep marriages to gether and allow children to be raised, whenever possible, by both parents,” the group said in a statement.
Focus on the Family, another Christian organization, did not comment on the decision, but shared a news story about an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador suspected of raping and killing a mother in Maryland. The Trump campaign also shared the story.
The National Immigration Forum voiced support for Biden’s action and encouraged Congress to pass more permanent solutions. “As is true when addressing our border challenges, executive actions represent only a temporary fix and could be subject to court challenges,” said Jennie Murray, president and CEO. Deirdre Schifeling, the chief political and advocacy officer for the American Civil Liberties Union, also offered praise for Biden’s move, writing that “this act by the president is the type of humane and commonsense action that has made America stronger, with resilient, hardworking, and patriotic people coming to our cities and small towns, building lives and vibrant, stable communities, generation upon generation.”
