Biden weighs amnesty for 1M illegal spouses of US citizens before election: report

The White House is considering granting deportation relief to more than one million people who entered the US illegally before marrying American citizens.The assist to so-called “mixed-status couples” is seen as another concession to would-be Democratic voters ahead of the Nov.5 election — and would follow potential executive action by Biden to tighten border security, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The outlet added that administration officials believe any backlash over an amnesty order would be tempered by voter sympathy for the couples.A final decision is not imminent, but the Journal reported the idea has been gaining traction since the summer of 2023.According to the immigration advocacy group Fwd.us, around 1.1 million illegal immigrants are married to American citizens.While immigrants who marry Americans typically qualify for green cards, many “mixed-status” couples have one partner who is ineligible for legal permanent residency for various reasons — including entering the US illegally more than once or using forged legal papers.Should the White House go forward with its plan, it is likely to implement a “parole in place” program, a version of which already allows spouses, parents or children of active-duty military and veterans to remain in the US in one-year increments, per the WSJ.Any program would also only apply to those who entered the country unlawfully, as opposed to someone who immigrated legally and overstayed their visa, according to the report.In addition, the potential order is expected to only apply to couples who have been married a set amount of time, such as five or 10 years.Biden has been facing pressure to act on the border — even from within his own party — as sanctuary cities across the country face overwhelming numbers of migrants seeking shelter and chaos ensues at the US-Mexico frontier..The president has not committed to pushing out an executive action to crack down on border crossings — and has noted he’...