The new opportunity for spouses is one of the broadest reforms to immigration policy yet.

As election year dynamics prompt the administration of President Joseph Biden to tighten restrictions on the inflow of migrants at the U.S. southern border, the president announced an additional policy to offset the negative reaction to this clampdown among Latino and immigrant advocacy groups. The new guidelines offer the prospect of citizenship to hundreds of thousands of individuals currently lacking legal status to live in the United States. Those who are married to U.S. citizens — estimated to number close to a half-million — will qualify for permanent residency and subsequently citizenship without having to leave the country as prior rules required.

Appealing to a longstanding tradition of receiving immigrants, President Biden declared, “The Statue of Liberty is not some relic of American history.” Upon receipt of a Green Card, i.e. permanent residency status, migrants are able to live and work in the United States for an open-ended period provided they obey all the laws; file income tax returns and pay what they owe; and in certain cases subject themselves to potential military draft. Ability to vote in elections is exclusively the right of U.S. citizens. Yet that status is attainable for the married migrants that fall under the new immigration regime announced by the administration.

According to the White House press office, those eligible for these opportunities must fulfill the following criteria:

• the applicant must have lives in the U.S. for at least 10 years
• the applicant must be legally married to a U.S. citizen
• the applicant must apply for permanent residency within three years from June 17, 2024

Applying for this coverage will secure an undocumented immigrant from the prospect of deportation while the application is under review. Meanwhile, any children of the spouse who do not enjoy citizenship status will likewise have such protection, a benefit affecting approximately 50,000 offspring.

This measure to expand the pool of legal migrants comes on the heels of a very recent decision by the administration to restrict the admission of asylum seekers to official points of entry, imposing a quota on the daily influx. The widespread perception that the southern border is wide open has hurt the re-election chances of the Biden 2024 campaign. The two policies — one prohibitive, the other welcoming — can possibly win back disaffected voters while retaining Democratic strongholds in the Latino community, among others.

Under the new rules, affected spouses undergo examination with regard to their immigration history, criminal background and a search for any past actions relating to fraud. Once a migrant receives permanent residency status, a three-year span must pass, at which point the resident can apply for U.S. citizenship. Logistics and other details have yet to be issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Moreover, litigation against this policy is highly likely, according to the Associated Press. 

The new opportunity for spouses is one of the broadest reforms to immigration policy yet. It is, however, in place by executive fiat. Depending on the outcome of the 2024 election, it will either continue or be subject to reversal by the next administration.