The Biden administration is making plans to announce one of the largest immigration relief programs in recent history, developing a policy that would offer legal status to hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in the country without proper documents
A program being developed by White House officials would offer work permits and deportation protections to unauthorized immigrants married to U.S. citizens, provided they have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years, according to sources who requested anonymity to discuss internal government plans.
The proposal, known as "Parole in Place," would also create a pathway to permanent legal status and U.S. citizenship for some beneficiaries by removing an obstacle in U.S. law that prevents those who entered the U.S. illegally from obtaining green cards without leaving the country.
Another plan being prepared by the Biden administration would streamline the process for so-called DREAMers and other undocumented immigrants to request waivers, making it easier for them to obtain temporary visas, such as H-1B visas for high-skilled workers, the sources said.
The measures could be announced as early as Tuesday, although the administration has not finalized a plan. White House officials are preparing to host an event on Tuesday to celebrate the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which shields roughly 530,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation.
Some Democratic lawmakers have already been invited to Tuesday's immigration event at the White House, three congressional officials told CBS News, requesting anonymity to share private invitations.
A White House official said no final decisions had been made. White House spokesperson Angelo Fernandez Hernandez previously stated that the administration is "committed to taking action to address our broken immigration system."
The "Parole in Place" plan would be the largest immigration program for unauthorized immigrants since DACA, a policy that former President Barack Obama announced in 2012 as a "stopgap" measure to protect DREAMers in light of congressional inaction on immigration.
The policy would benefit a subset of the estimated 1.1 million unauthorized immigrants with American citizen spouses, provided they meet the residency requirement and other rules. Overall, there are approximately 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. unlawfully, according to the most recent government estimate.
This move would underscore an increased willingness by President Biden to take executive actions on immigration ahead of the presidential election in November. Just last week, Biden invoked his executive authority to enact a partial ban on asylum claims at the southern border, a move that has already been challenged in federal court by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Like the border executive action, the "Parole in Place" program will likely face legal challenges, possibly from Republican-led states, which have filed multiple lawsuits against Biden's more generous immigration policies.
The program would almost certainly garner vocal opposition from Republican lawmakers, who have increasingly taken strong stances against "amnesty" for those living in the U.S. illegally.
"Biden's border is still in crisis and his latest idea is amnesty. This will invite more chaos," said Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, the lead Republican negotiator of a border security deal brokered by the White House and a group of senators earlier this year.