Parole in place can bring more than 500,000 undocumented immigrants hope and a secure future. These are our neighbors and family members, spouses of U.S. citizens. They have lived and worked and raised their children here for at least the past ten years. Many have lived here more than 20 years.
The plan leaves out millions of others: immigration reform remains a painful, urgent, and seemingly impossible task. Even though parole in place is an incomplete remedy, it is still a genuine BFD, the biggest deal since DACA.
On June 18, President Biden announced the parole in place program for undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens and a streamlined work visa process for Dreamers.
Details on how to apply, what documents will be needed, and application fees will come later. For now, here’s what we know.
Parole in Place for Undocumented Spouses
Under current law, undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens can apply for permanent residence. But there’s a catch: they must leave the country to apply, and there’s no guarantee that they will be allowed back in. In fact, there’s a ten-year bar to re-entry that applies in most cases.
Biden’s order will change that by granting parole in place, a provision of immigration law that has been used by Republican and Democratic administrations in the past. To qualify for parole in place, undocumented spouses will have to meet certain requirements:
- Be present in the United States without admission or parole;
- Have been continuously present in the United States for at least 10 years as of June 17, 2024;
- Have a legally valid marriage to a U.S. citizen as of June 17, 2024;
- Not pose a threat to public safety or national security;
- Have no disqualifying criminal history;
- Be eligible to apply for adjustment of status; and
- Merit a favorable exercise of discretion.
No one entering the United States after June 17, 2014 will be eligible.
Qualifying spouses will have to apply, but not until application procedures and forms are in place. Anyone who applies before the official start of the program–probably some time later this summer–will be denied.
If the undocumented spouse has minor children who are also undocumented, and if these children were stepchildren of a U.S. citizen on July 14, 2014, they may also qualify for parole.
As with every part of immigration law, the exact details and application process will be complicated.
Dreamers and Work Visas
Some Dreamers–with or without DACA status–may be eligible for work visas. DHS announced that it will work with the State Department in “an effort to more efficiently facilitate certain employment-based nonimmigrant visas for eligible individuals.” The “eligible individuals” will include “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and undocumented noncitizens, who have graduated from an accredited U.S. institution of higher education.”
The White House announcement specified that the work visas are limited to Dreamers with “an offer of employment from a U.S. employer in a field related to their degree” can apply.
Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Visas
Parole status is not a visa. It is a temporary permission to remain in the Unites States and apply for a visa from inside the United States.
Spouses of U.S. citizens can apply for an immigrant visa, also known as a green card or permanent legal residence. Permanent legal residents can eventually apply for citizenship.
The work visas for Dreamers are nonimmigrant visas. They do not provide a path to citizenship. An employer could eventually agree to sponsor an application for permanent residence.
How Many People?.
The White House estimates that 500,000 spouses and 50,000 stepchildren could qualify for parole in place. There is no estimate on the possible number of work visas.
Some of their stories
Javier Quiroz stood next to President Biden as he announced the parole in place program, He is one of an estimated 500,000 undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens who will benefit from the parole in place program announced on Tuesday by President Biden.
[Washington Post] “Javier Quiroz crossed the U.S. border illegally from Mexico with his mother when he was 3, and that passage has shadowed him all his life.
“Now 33, he is a registered nurse married to a U.S. citizen in Texas who can sponsor him for a green card. They have never applied because federal law requires that Quiroz first leave the United States, with no guarantee that he may return…
“‘My life is currently being lived in two-year increments,’ Quiroz said in a telephone interview, adding that becoming a permanent resident is ‘going to be a huge relief and weight off my shoulders.’”
Foday Turay’s mother fled Sierra Leone, but was unable to bring her infant son with her. She left him in the care of his grandmother. She gained refugee status, and sent for her son after his grandmother became too ill to care for him. He was seven years old when he crossed the Mexican border without documents to rejoin his mother. Now 27, he is married to a U.S. citizen and has a U.S. citizen son. He has temporary protection through DACA, and works as an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia. He would have to leave the country to apply for a permanent resident visa as a spouse of a U,S. citizen. But If he leaves the country, he would be barred from returning for 10 years. Turay is one of hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who would qualify for relief under the Parole in Place program announced today by President Biden.
[Washington Post] “Turay, a prosecutor, expressed frustration that he is the only member of his family who is not a U.S. citizen, after decades in the United States, a law degree and a job as a public servant. He married his wife on June 17 of last year, and they have a 10-month old son…
“But because of his unlawful crossing, he said, he fears he would not be allowed back into the country if he left to apply for legal residency through his wife.
“’It’s absurd that I’m still dealing with all this,’ he said. ‘Instead of me focusing on victims of crime, I’m here trying to get relief to stay.’.”
The work visa part of the White House announcement could benefit many young people whose access to DACA has been blocked by the courts. Since the Trump administration tried to shut down DACA, no new applications have been accepted, leaving an estimated 480,000 young people with no way to apply. The work visa plan could also give more security to some current DACA recipients, like Sebastian Melendez.
[New York Times] “Sebastian Melendez, a 25-year-old registered nurse at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, said his DACA status had enabled him to work alongside surgeons doing innovative gastrointestinal procedures, buy a car, rent an apartment and help his parents financially.
“‘It would be incredible to have this employment visa solution, rather than a status that has been dangling by a thread,’ said Mr. Melendez, whose parents brought him to the United States when he was an infant.”
For more information:
White House Fact Sheet: President Biden Announces New Actions to Keep Families Together
DHS Fact Sheet: DHS Announces New Process to Promote the Unity and Stability of Families
Hoja informativa: DHS anuncia un nuevo proceso para promover la unidad y estabilidad de las familias
American Immigration Council Fact Sheet: The Biden Administration’s Parole-In-Place Announcement: Helping Mixed-Status Families Stay Together and Avoid Bureaucratic Traps
PBS: Here’s what’s in Biden’s plan to offer some migrants a pathway to citizenship, and how it will work
Washington Post: White House announces plan to aid longtime undocumented immigrants
New York Times: Biden Gives Legal Protections to Undocumented Spouses of U.S. Citizens
New York Times: Small Step Could Bring Big Relief to Young Undocumented Immigrants
Immigration news 