By Tolúlopé Olátúnjí
U.S President, Joe Biden has unveiled plans for a new policy designed to protect hundreds of thousands of undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens from deportation.
According to British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
the policy will apply to individuals who have been in the country for at least 10 years and will also grant them the legal right to work in the U.S.
It would recalled that Biden was committed to making the U.S. immigration system “more fair and more just,” strssing that immigration is a primary concern for many voters ahead of the upcoming presidential election in November.
This initiative marks the most significant relief program for undocumented migrants since the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in 2012. The White House estimates that over 500,000 spouses of U.S. citizens will benefit from this policy, along with 50,000 young people under 21 whose parents are married to an American citizen.
The announcement is coming on the heels of an event on Tuesday commemorating the 12th anniversary of the DACA program, which has shielded over 530,000 migrants who came to the U.S. as children – known as Dreamers – from deportation.
Additionally, it was gathered that the White House plans to ease and expedite the visa process for highly skilled undocumented immigrants. This includes those who have obtained degrees from U.S. universities or received job offers in their fields.
