Immigration: President Biden signs an executive order to regularize 500,000 undocumented migrants who are married to US citizens.

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, announced this Tuesday a new policy to protect hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who are spouses of American citizens from deportation.

According to the White House, about 500,000 people would benefit.

Being married to a US citizen provides a path to citizenship.

However, when a migrant enters the country illegally and later becomes the spouse of an American, they must return to their place of origin to apply for permanent residence.

The measure will apply to those who have been in the US. for at least 10 years and will allow them to work legally.

In the middle of an election year, migration is a headache for Biden, who recently issued another executive order to stop the record arrival of migrants at the US border. and Mexico.

At an event at the White House on Tuesday, the Democratic president commented that the new policy would help the US immigration system be less “unfair” for the benefit of immigrants, married couples, and all Americans.

His government also believes the executive order will benefit 50,000 young people under 21 years of age whose parents are married to a US citizen.

“The action I announce today will come into effect at the end of this summer,” the president said at a press conference.

“The actions I am taking today have the overwhelming support of the American people, despite what the other team says,” he added, referring to Republicans.

The news from the White House came as the United States marks the 12th anniversary of DACA, which protected from deportation more than 530,000 immigrants who came to the United States as children, known today as dreamers.

On Monday, senior Biden administration officials said spouses of U.S. citizens with irregular immigration status would qualify if they have lived in the country for 10 years and were married by June 17 of this year.

Those who qualify They will have three years to apply for permanent residence and will be eligible for a three-year work permit.

On average, the White House believes those eligible for the process have been in the US for 23 years. The majority would have been born in Mexico.

They will be granted what they have called “in-place parole” and They will be allowed to remain in the US. while your status is changed.

NumbersUSA, an organization that advocates for stricter immigration controls, called the new policy “immoderate”.

The organization’s executive director, James Massa, said in a statement: “Instead of stopping the worst border crisis in history, President Biden has overstepped his executive authority by using an unconstitutional process, bypassing voters and their elected representatives in Congress, to send a message that amnesty is available for those who enter the United States illegally.

For his part, Alex Cuic, an immigration lawyer and professor at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, told the BBC that while the action impacts only a “small group,” it marks a “beginning” for a segment of the immigrant population in the US that historically faces complications in normalizing their status in the country, even when they are eligible.

Tuesday’s executive order stands in stark contrast to another sweeping immigration order issued by the president in early June, that allows officials to quickly expel migrants who enter the United States illegally without processing their asylum applications.

Both policies, spaced in just two weekshave highlighted the complex tightrope in which Biden finds himself regarding this issue.

“Biden is always in a difficult situation,” Republican strategist Doug Heye told the BBC. “Whatever he does, he will receive criticism. This is a perfect example,” he added.

“He’s performing poorly among Hispanic voters, so he’s trying to take steps to attract a lot of votes. But it may also cost him votes,” Heye continued. “These are, by definition, mixed messages.”

The BBC attempted to contact the Biden campaign for a comment, but at the time of publishing this story had not received a response.

The asylum restrictions announced on June 5, now the subject of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, were widely criticized by immigration activists and even some of the president’s Democratic allies.

While the number of migrant arrivals and arrests at the US-Mexico border has decreased this year After reaching all-time highs early in the Biden administration, polls continue to show widespread alarm in the country about the issue.

A May Gallup poll found that 18% of American voters consider immigration their top issue, up from 27% in April, the third consecutive month it topped the list of concerns.

Polls this year have repeatedly shown that many voters trust Trump more on immigration and the border than they trust Biden.

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