Immigrant families rejoice over Biden's expansive move toward citizenship, while some are left out

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the Biden administration's plan to allow U.S. citizens' spouses without legal status to apply for permanent residency and eventually citizenship without having to first depart the country for up to 10 years. It highlights the impact of this policy on various immigrant families and the limitations of the eligibility requirements.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Biden's Immigration Plan

1. What are the key details of Biden's immigration plan announced in the article?

• The Biden administration will allow U.S. citizens' spouses without legal status to apply for permanent residency and eventually citizenship without having to first depart the country for up to 10 years.
• To qualify, the immigrant must have lived in the United States for 10 years and be married to a U.S. citizen as of Monday.
• About 500,000 immigrants may benefit from this plan, according to senior administration officials.
• However, the plan has cutoff dates and eligibility requirements, meaning that not all spouses of U.S. citizens will qualify.

2. How does this plan impact different immigrant families?

• For some families, like Claudia Zúniga's, the plan is a "dream come true" as it would allow their spouses to be with them in the U.S.
• For others, like Claudia Zúniga's husband, they are ineligible because they were not in the U.S. for the required 10 years.
• The plan also has the potential to benefit around 50,000 noncitizen children with parents who are married to U.S. citizens.

3. What are the reactions of immigration advocates and critics to this plan?

• Immigration advocates were generally thrilled with the scope of the announcement, seeing it as a significant step forward.
• However, Biden's critics called the plan a "horribly misguided giveaway."

[02] Eligibility Criteria and Limitations

1. What are the key eligibility requirements for the immigration plan?

• The immigrant must have lived in the United States for 10 years and be married to a U.S. citizen as of Monday.
• About 1.1 million spouses in the country illegally are married to U.S. citizens, but hundreds of thousands won't qualify because they were in the United States less than 10 years.

2. How do the eligibility requirements and cutoff dates limit the scope of the plan?

• The plan has cutoff dates and other eligibility requirements, similar to the Obama-era DACA program, which excluded those who arrived a day later.
• This means that even though the plan is expansive, it still leaves out a significant number of immigrants who do not meet the specific criteria.

3. How do the limitations of the plan impact individual immigrant families?

• For some families, like Claudia Zúniga's, the plan is not applicable because her husband was not in the U.S. for the required 10 years.
• Other families, like Angelica Martinez's, are able to benefit from the plan, but still have experienced hardships in the past, such as not being able to travel to Mexico for a family member's death.