If illegal immigrants get firmer legal footing in the U.S. they’ll be able to send more money to their home countries, which will stop other would-be migrants from trying to come here, the Biden administration said Monday.
The illegal immigrant spouses will also be more likely to report crimes, and be willing to buck unsafe work conditions or unscrupulous employers once they earn work permits through the spouse program, Homeland Security said in a regulatory filing Monday justifying the creation of the new program.
Half a million illegal immigrants married to U.S. citizens are likely eligible to apply, as are about 50,000 of the illegal immigrants’ children, who are stepchildren of the U.S. citizens, the government said.
The new program offers them “parole,” which is a defense against deportation and brings work permits, a Social Security number and some taxpayer benefits.
Illegal immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens do have a pathway to citizenship under current law but it requires them to leave the country to get a visa from an embassy or consulate, which can take time and introduces uncertainty that they will be admitted again when they do try to return.
The new program cancels that return-to-home requirement.
“Too often, noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens — many of them mothers and fathers — live with uncertainty due to undue barriers in our immigration system,” said Ur Jaddou, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
USCIS started accepting applications Monday, just as the agency finally published the rule specifying who can qualify and how their applications will be judged.
Those who have been in the U.S. for at least a decade and who have at some point been married to a U.S. citizen could qualify.
Homeland Security said the average eligible illegal immigrant has been here for 23 years.
Those with felony convictions are categorically barred, as are gun crimes, domestic violence convictions and drug offenses beyond simple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana. Other criminal offenses beyond “minor” traffic violations will have to be argued out with the immigration officers.
Illegal immigrant spouses already facing deportation can apply and be granted parole, though the new regulatory filing says they will have to argue why they deserve the leniency.
Factors that can be used to justify parole include how long ago illegal acts took place, how long someone has been in the U.S., evidence of mitigating circumstances or status as the caregiver for a child, an elderly parent or someone with disabilities.
The program relies on Homeland Security’s power of parole. Under the law that is supposed to be a limited grant, on a case-by-case basis, where there is an “urgent” humanitarian situation or “significant” public need at stake.
The Biden administration has used parole to welcome millions of otherwise unauthorized migrants into the U.S.
USCIS said granting parole to illegal immigrant spouses qualifies as a significant public benefit because it will make the illegal immigrants more secure and less worried about their situations. That means they will attain better jobs, be more ready to help police and send more money to their home countries.
That money, known as remittances, will in turn fund families’ lives in those home countries and keep them from coming to the U.S., the Biden administration said.
“By providing certain noncitizen long-term residents of the United States the ability to access employment authorization and adjustment of status, this process will enhance their ability to send remittances to family members in their countries of origin, promoting stability and reducing incentives for those family members or others to irregularly migrate to the United States,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in the official regulatory filing.
He also said the new program would earn the goodwill of Mexico and Colombia, which have been asking the U.S. to grant Mexican illegal immigrants more protections. In turn, those countries will work harder to stop new illegal immigrants from crossing their territory en route to the U.S., Mr. Mayorkas said.
Rosemary Jenks, policy director at the Immigration Accountability Project, said Mr. Mayorkas was wrong about remittances.
“Remittances have been growing every year, but have you noticed fewer people coming?” she said in an email. “Remittances also help pay smuggler/cartel fees so the ones left behind can get here. We should be taxing remittances and using the funds for enforcement. Americans benefit when money remains in our economy, rather than being sent abroad.”
Immigrant rights activists cheered the new program and announced clinics to help people sign up.
“This is a much-needed relief, and we encourage the Biden administration to continue to use their executive powers to protect family unity, and to ensure that our long-term neighbors who have been caught in the traps of immigration bureaucracy have the opportunity to finally complete their formal residency application,” said Yareliz Mendez-Zamora at the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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