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President Joe Biden will announce a new policy Tuesday that will make it easier for undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens to apply for permanent residency.
The move could affect approximately half a million spouses of U.S. citizens and 50,000 noncitizen children who have a parent married to a U.S. citizen.
To be eligible, an immigrant must have resided in the United States for 10 or more years and be legally married to a U.S. citizen as of June 17, 2024, according to a White House fact sheet.
Those approved after an assessment of their application by the Department of Homeland Security will have three years to apply for permanent residency. During this time, they will be allowed to remain in the United States with their families as well as be eligible for work authorization.
Also included in the announcement Tuesday is a plan to accelerate the process of obtaining work visas for certain recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, who have a U.S. degree and employment offer relating to their field.
This program will be announced Tuesday during a White House event to commemorate the 12th Anniversary of the DACA policy that has protected from deportation hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.
Biden's policy announcements were praised by advocates for immigrant families before Tuesday's event.
"I applaud the Biden-Harris administration for heeding the call of so many of us to use its executive authority to keep American families together, support our Dreamers in the workforce, and boost our economy," Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, a Democrat from Texas, said in a statement.
The policy is facing criticism from other representatives.
John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, said in a statement that the plan was, "another Biden 'pull' factor, incentivizing more illegal immigration, and guaranteeing years of litigation."
Earlier this month, Biden announced an executive order that will temporarily restrict asylum eligibility at the U.S.-Mexico border whenever the number of migrants crossing unlawfully or without authorization reaches a daily average of 2,500.
The executive order says those who cross into the country illegally won't be eligible for asylum unless there are extraordinary reasons why they should be allowed to stay in the United States.
The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.