U.S. President Joe Biden announced a streamlined path to legal status for more than 500,000 immigrants, launching his broadest effort yet to offer deportation protections while trying to blunt criticism by some allies of his recent border crackdown.
Eligible spouses and children of U.S. citizens who have been in the country for at least a decade can apply for lawful permanent residence without first being forced to leave the country. That’s a radical change from current policy, which requires those people to leave the U.S. — sometimes for years — before allowing them to apply for permanent residency and work permits.
Biden on Tuesday rolled out the executive action during a White House event commemorating the anniversary of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, contrasting his approach with the "outrageous” policies of his November election opponent, Donald Trump.