The Biden administration is considering a new immigration policy that would protect the undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens from deportation. Multiple outlets are reporting that administration officials are working to present a plan to President Joe Biden for consideration.
If approved, it would be enacted as a parole program, which protects certain groups from deportation for a set period of time and gives them access to work permits. It would also make it easier for some of those immigrants to get a green card and a pathway to citizenship.
According to CNN, it’s estimated that the order would impact 750,000 to 800,000 people. A source who spoke with The New York Times put the number closer to 1.1 million. Administration officials working on the measure hope it will help the president win over Latino voters in key battleground states including Arizona, Nevada and Georgia.
This news comes as illegal crossings at the U.S. border dropped 20% Friday, June 7, compared to the days prior. An official told Reuters that Border Patrol arrested 3,100 people who crossed the border illegally.
Officials said the drop is early evidence that the president’s new executive order — which shuts down the border when illegal crossings surpass 2,500 per day — is working.
The ACLU said it would sue the administration over the order and said the policy would put thousands of lives at risk.
“I respectfully disagree with the ACLU,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on ABC’s “This Week.” “I anticipate they will sue us. We stand by the legality of what we have done. We stand by the value proposition. Our intent is to really change the risk calculus of individuals before they leave their countries of origin and incentivize them to use lawful pathways that we have made available to them and keep them out of the hands of exploitative smugglers.”
The president’s order took effect Wednesday, June 5, and the border will not reopen until there is a seven-day average less than 1,500. Migrants who are arrested trying to cross illegally are supposed to be immediately removed from the country while this order is in effect.
However, a Border Patrol memo obtained by Fox News shows agents are not removing immigrants from the Eastern Hemisphere. The memo states single adults from those countries are considered hard or very hard to remove and therefore they should be given notices to appear or released on their own recognizance. There are five countries that are exceptions, including Russia and Georgia.
This means immigrants from the Eastern Hemisphere — including those from Africa and Asia — are being released into the United States without a court date.
