Earlier this week, I wrote about the Biden administration's plan to offer "parole in place" for the illegal immigrant spouses of American citizens, More than a million illegals would be given work permits and protection from deportation if they've lived in the U.S. for 10 years.
Now the administration is targeting DACA recipients. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is 12 years old this month and half a million children of illegal aliens brought to the U.S. as children are still in limbo as far as their immigration status.
Biden wants to streamline the program to make it easier for them to obtain temporary visas, such as H-1B visas for skilled workers.
The new programs could be announced as early as Tuesday at a White House ceremony noting the DACA anniversary.
A White House official said no final decisions have been made on what additional executive actions might be taken. White House spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández added that the administration “continues to explore a series of policy options and we remain committed to taking action to address our broken immigration system.”
If implemented, it’s unclear how many undocumented spouses would receive protections, but some lawmakers and immigration advocates have estimated it could affect up to 1.1 million people. But sources with knowledge of the White House’s plans told PBS News Hour they expect the scope of such protections to be much narrower.
This is the "Mosquito Bite" approach to legalizing millions of illegals. He's using the same approach with student loan forgiveness. Take small bites out of the problem, claim huge victories, and return for another bite later.
Biden's two-faced approach to illegal immigration might be one of the most cynical ploys in recent presidential elections.
Still, less than five months out from the election, Biden has moved rapidly in recent weeks to implement tougher enforcement on the border. But this expected new action to protect undocumented spouses could also provide the president a political boost with Latino voters and his base.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus and immigrant advocacy groups have requested for months that the White House act on work permits and deportation protections for undocumented people married to U.S. citizens. In recent meetings with Biden, White House officials and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, lawmakers have pushed the issue, receiving positive signals in return, multiple sources involved in the meetings told the PBS News Hour.
“We are optimistic and working tirelessly to ensure that President Biden takes action to protect the long-term undocumented in our country, including the estimated 1.1 million undocumented people in the U.S. who are spouses of an American citizen,” said Andrea Flores, a former administration official and vice president of immigration policy at Fwd. US.
“Doing so would fulfill his Day 1 promise to keep these families together,” she said.
Mass deportation of illegal aliens is supported by more than half the people in the United States.
Nearly six in ten voters, including a third of Democrats and nine in ten Republicans, endorse a hypothetical mass deportation effort, according to a CBS News poll conducted June 5 to June 7.
A similarly sized majority would be in favor of deploying local law enforcement try to apprehend illegal immigrants. About under half of registered voters believe it would be a good idea to erect large government detention centers to process illegal immigrants for potential deportation.
As for the "parole in place" program, it's not really necessary.
"While these so-called mixed-status families may elicit sympathies, our immigration laws have a process for illegal alien spouses of U.S. citizens to follow to absolve their violations — a process the Biden Administration is ignoring to ease the burden on illegal aliens," Robert Law of the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) said last month.
It may not be necessary but it makes certain voters happy.
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