Biden will announce on Tuesday his plan to give status to migrants married to Americans

The president of USAJoe Biden, will announce this Tuesday at the White House a new measure that will allow some undocumented migrants married to citizens can obtain legal status in the country.

The decision, which comes less than five months before the presidential elections, could benefit more than 500,000 people who have lived and worked in the country for years, two sources with knowledge of the plans informed EFE.

At least one organization in defense of migrants, along with immigration officials, will go to the White House for the event where the measure is planned to be announced, sources said.

Gustavo Torres, director of the NGO CASA, based in Maryland, assured EFE that he was invited to President Biden’s residence on Tuesday. The activist said that he will be accompanied by a couple who could benefit from the measure.

“It is a step in the right direction to thank migrants for the contribution they have been making for so many years,” Torres pointed out. “Better late than never”.

The new immigration relief would be the most important since the Barack Obama Administration created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012, which has allowed more than 800,000 migrants to obtain work permits and protection from deportation. .

The Biden Government plans to use a legal figure known as “parole,” which grants people who are already in US territory protection against deportation and allows them to apply for a work permit, as confirmed to EFE by a person familiar with the matter. initiative of the Executive.

With this relief, those who do not have legal status in the US and entered the country irregularly could apply for residency and, eventually, citizenship.

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre did not provide details of the planned initiative on Monday, but reiterated Biden’s willingness to manage the situation.

“He has made it very clear that a legislative solution is needed. (…) It will certainly continue to address what we see on the border, the challenges. He wants bipartisan legislation. It is really important that we stand with the majority of Americans in ensuring that action is taken“, said.

This latest measure joins another announced at the beginning of the month, by which the Democratic president used his executive power to issue an order with which he hopes to prevent the majority of people who cross the border irregularly from being able to request asylum.

That order was received by a wave of criticism from migrant aid associations and legislators from their own party, for whom the restriction will affect thousands of people and does not solve the root problem.