Biden preparing to offer legal status to undocumented immigrants who have lived in U.S. for 10 years

The Biden administration is planning to announce one of the largest immigration aid programs in recent history, develop a policy it would offer legal status to hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in the country without proper documents, four people familiar with the plans told CBS News.

A program being developed by White House officials would offer work permits and deportation protections to unauthorized immigrants married to U.S. citizens as long as they have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years, the sources said, requesting anonymity to talk about the government’s internal plans. .

The proposal, known as “Parole in Place,” would also open a path to permanent legal status and U.S. citizenship for some beneficiaries by removing a hurdle in U.S. law that prevents those who entered the U.S. illegally from obtaining green cards without leaving. from the country. .

Another plan being prepared by the Biden administration would streamline the process for so-called DREAMers and other undocumented immigrants to apply for exemptions that would make it easier for them to obtain temporary visas, such as H-1B visas for highly skilled workers, the sources say. he said.

The measures, the sources added, could be announced as early as Tuesday, but the plan has not been finalized by the administration. White House officials are preparing to host an event on Tuesday to celebrate the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects about 530,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the US from deportation as children.

Some Democratic lawmakers have already been invited to Tuesday’s immigration event at the White House, three congressional officials told CBS News, requesting anonymity to share private invitations.

A White House official said no final decision has been made. White House spokesman Angelo Fernandez Hernandez previously said the administration is “committed to taking action to address our broken immigration system.”

The “Parole in Place” plan would be the largest immigration program for unauthorized immigrants since DACA, a policy that former President Barack Obama announced in 2012 as a “stopgap” measure to protect DREAMers in light of Congressional inaction on immigration matter.

The policy would benefit a subset of the estimated at 1.1 million unauthorized immigrants with U.S. citizen spouses, as long as they meet the residency requirement and other rules. Overall, there are approximately 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, according to the most recent report. government estimate.

The move would further underscore President Biden’s greater willingness to take executive action on immigration before the November presidential election. Last week, Mr. Biden invoked his executive authority to enact a partial ban on asylum applications on the southern border, a movement that has already been challenged in federal court for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Like the border executive action, the “Parole in Place” program will likely face legal challenges, possibly from Republican-led states that have filed multiple lawsuits against Biden’s more generous immigration policies.

The program would almost certainly draw vocal opposition from Republican lawmakers, who have taken increasingly strong stances against “amnesty” for those living in the U.S. illegally.

“Biden’s border is still in crisis and his latest idea is amnesty. he said Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma, the lead Republican negotiator for a negotiated border security agreement by the White House and a group of senators earlier this year.

Still, Biden has argued that he is acting unilaterally on immigration because Congress failed to pass that deal, which was rejected by a majority of Republican lawmakers. Political analysts also believe the “parole” policy could increase Biden’s chances of gaining more support from Latino voters, especially those from mixed-status families who would benefit from the change.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that oversees the legal immigration system, has run a more limited “Parole in Place” program for military families for more than a decade. The policy allows some undocumented immigrants who are immediate relatives of U.S. military personnel or veterans to obtain green cards without having to leave the country.