Biden Announces Program to Give Half Million Immigrants Legal Status
2024-06-19
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1U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a program to offer a path to citizenship to hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status in the United States.
2Administration officials said the program will be open to an estimated 500,000 immigrants.
3To qualify, an immigrant must have lived in the United States for 10 years as of June 17.
4He or she must be married to a U.S. citizen.
5There is no requirement on how long the couple must have been married.
6People who reach the 10-year mark after June 17 are not eligible.
7About 50,000 children under age 21 with a parent who is a U.S. citizen will also be eligible.
8The majority of the people who would be eligible are Mexicans, officials added.
9If a qualifying immigrant's application is approved, he or she would have three years to apply for permanent residency, receive a temporary work permit, and be protected from deportation.
10The program will let spouses and children apply for permanent residence without leaving the U.S., avoiding a possibly lengthy process and family separation.
11They could apply for U.S. citizenship after a period.
12Administration officials said they expect the process will accept applications by the end of the summer.
13Biden spoke about his plans at a White House event to mark the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.
14The DACA program was established under then-President Barack Obama.
15It offered protection from deportation and temporary work permits for undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.
16Former President Donald Trump ended the program in 2017.
17Biden's order to restart the program has faced several legal actions.
18Biden also announced new rules that will permit some people admitted under DACA and other young immigrants to receive work visas faster.
19Those eligible included people who have earned higher education degrees in the U.S. and who have received job offers from American employers in a field related to their training.
20Andrea Flores is a former policy adviser in the Obama and Biden administrations.
21She is now a vice president at FWD.us, an organization that supports immigration.
22Flores said Tuesday's announcement for spouses expanded on power used by presidents George W. Bush and Obama to permit "parole in place" for family of military members.
23The parole-in-place process lets qualifying immigrants get on the path to U.S. permanent residency without leaving the country.
24It affected people who were married to Americans but who were not U.S. citizens.
25Flores said it "fulfills President Biden's...promise to protect undocumented immigrants and their American families."
26Karoline Leavitt is a spokesperson for Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.
27She called Biden's new program "amnesty" and said in a statement that Trump would "restore the rule of law" if reelected.
28Tuesday's announcement comes two weeks after Biden announced a new policy at the U.S.-Mexico border to halt asylum claims for those who do not arrive at official ports of entry.
29Immigrant rights groups have taken legal action against the Biden administration over that policy.
30An administration official said Monday that the policy had led to fewer detentions and arrests at the border.
31I'm Jill Robbins.
1U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a program to offer a path to citizenship to hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status in the United States. 2Administration officials said the program will be open to an estimated 500,000 immigrants. To qualify, an immigrant must have lived in the United States for 10 years as of June 17. He or she must be married to a U.S. citizen. There is no requirement on how long the couple must have been married. People who reach the 10-year mark after June 17 are not eligible. 3About 50,000 children under age 21 with a parent who is a U.S. citizen will also be eligible. The majority of the people who would be eligible are Mexicans, officials added. 4If a qualifying immigrant's application is approved, he or she would have three years to apply for permanent residency, receive a temporary work permit, and be protected from deportation. 5The program will let spouses and children apply for permanent residence without leaving the U.S., avoiding a possibly lengthy process and family separation. They could apply for U.S. citizenship after a period. 6Administration officials said they expect the process will accept applications by the end of the summer. 7Biden spoke about his plans at a White House event to mark the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. 8The DACA program was established under then-President Barack Obama. It offered protection from deportation and temporary work permits for undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. Former President Donald Trump ended the program in 2017. Biden's order to restart the program has faced several legal actions. 9Biden also announced new rules that will permit some people admitted under DACA and other young immigrants to receive work visas faster. Those eligible included people who have earned higher education degrees in the U.S. and who have received job offers from American employers in a field related to their training. 10Andrea Flores is a former policy adviser in the Obama and Biden administrations. She is now a vice president at FWD.us, an organization that supports immigration. Flores said Tuesday's announcement for spouses expanded on power used by presidents George W. Bush and Obama to permit "parole in place" for family of military members. 11The parole-in-place process lets qualifying immigrants get on the path to U.S. permanent residency without leaving the country. It affected people who were married to Americans but who were not U.S. citizens. Flores said it "fulfills President Biden's...promise to protect undocumented immigrants and their American families." 12Karoline Leavitt is a spokesperson for Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. She called Biden's new program "amnesty" and said in a statement that Trump would "restore the rule of law" if reelected. 13Tuesday's announcement comes two weeks after Biden announced a new policy at the U.S.-Mexico border to halt asylum claims for those who do not arrive at official ports of entry. 14Immigrant rights groups have taken legal action against the Biden administration over that policy. An administration official said Monday that the policy had led to fewer detentions and arrests at the border. 15I'm Jill Robbins. 16Seung Min Kim reported this story for the Associated Press. Hai Do adapted this report for VOA Learning English with additional information from Reuters and the White House website. 17________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19status -n. the position of a person in legal terms often related to their citizenship 20eligible -adj. able to do or receive something 21application -n. a formal, written request for assistance, a job, membership in a group, among other things 22residency -n. the condition of living in a place and being legally recognized to live there 23spouse -n. a person who is married to another person 24We want to hear from you.