HOUSTON– Hundreds of thousands of immigrants had reason to rejoice when President Joe Biden unveiled a highly expansive plan to extend legal status to spouses of U.S. citizens, but inevitably, some were left out.
Claudia Zúniga, 35, got married in 2017, or 10 years after her husband came to the United States. He moved to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, after marriage, knowing that by law he would have to live outside the country for years to obtain legal status. “Our lives have taken a 180-degree turn,” she said.
Biden announced Tuesday that his administration will, in the coming months, allow spouses of US citizens without legal status to apply for permanent residence and, eventually, citizenship, without having to first leave the country for a period of up to 10 years. Around 500,000 immigrants could benefit, according to senior administration officials.
To qualify, an immigrant must have lived in the United States for 10 years and be married to a U.S. citizen, both by Monday. Zúniga’s husband is not eligible because he has not been to the United States.
“Imagine, it would be a dream come true,” said Zúniga, who works part-time at his father’s transportation company in Houston. “My husband could be with us. We could focus on the well-being of our children.”
All immigration benefits — even those as comprehensive as Biden’s election-year offer — have cutoff dates and other eligibility requirements. In September, the Democratic president expanded the temporary status to almost 500 thousand Venezuelans who lived in the United States on July 31, 2023. Those who arrived a day later were out of luck.
The Obama era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals The program, which protected hundreds of thousands of people who came to the United States as children from deportation and is popularly known as DACA, required applicants to be in the United States on June 15, 2012, and to have been in the country continuously for the past five years. .
About 1.1 million spouses in the country are illegally married to U.S. citizens, according to the advocacy group FWD.us., meaning hundreds of thousands will not qualify because they have been in the United States for less than 10 years.
Immigration advocates were generally enthusiastic about the reach of Tuesday’s announcement, just as Biden’s critics called it a woefully misguided offer.
Angelica Martinez, 36, wiped away tears sitting next to her children, ages 14 and 6, watching Biden’s announcement at the Houston office of FIEL, an immigrant advocacy group. A U.S. citizen since 2013, she described a flood of emotions, including regret that her husband was unable to travel to Mexico because of her mother’s death five years ago.
“Sadness and joy all at the same time,” said Martinez, whose husband came to Houston 18 years ago.
Brenda Valle of Los Angeles, whose husband has been a U.S. citizen since 2001 and, like her, was born in Mexico, renews her DACA authorization every two years. “We can start planning long term, for the future, rather than what we can do in the next two years,” she said.
Magdalena Gutiérrez of Chicago, married for 22 years to a U.S. citizen and has three U.S. citizen daughters, said she had “a little more hope” after Biden’s announcement. Gutiérrez, 43, is eager to travel more around the United States without fearing an encounter with authorities that could lead to her deportation.
Allyson Batista, a retired Philadelphia teacher and U.S. citizen who married her Mexican husband 20 years ago, remembers being told by a lawyer that he could leave the country for 10 years or “remain in the shadows and wait for a change in the law.”
“Initially, when we got married, I was naive and thought, ‘OK, but I’m American. That won’t be a problem. We’re going to fix this,’” Batista said. “I learned very early on that we were facing a pretty dire circumstance and that there was no way we could successfully move forward with the immigration process.”
The couple raised three children who are pursuing higher education. Batista is awaiting details on how her husband can apply for a green card.
“I’m hopeful,” Batista said. “The next 60 days will really tell. But obviously beyond thrilled because every step forward is a step toward a final resolution for all types of immigrant families.”
About 50,000 noncitizen children whose parents are married to U.S. citizens could also qualify, according to senior administration officials who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. Biden also announced new regulations that will allow some DACA recipients and other young immigrants to more easily qualify for long-established work visas.
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Gonzalez reported from McAllen, Texas. Associated Press writers Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles, Melissa Perez Winder in Chicago and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed.
