Biden will announce deportation protection and work permits for spouses of US citizens

By STEPHEN GROVES and SEUNG MIN KIM
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is planning to announce a sweeping new policy that would lift the threat of deportation for tens of thousands of people married to U.S. citizens. It’s an aggressive election-year action on immigration that had been sought by many Democrats. Biden is hosting a White House event Tuesday to celebrate an Obama-era directive that offered deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants and will announce the new program then, according to three people briefed on the White House plans. The policy will allow roughly 490,000 spouses of U.S. citizens an opportunity to apply for a “parole in place” program, which would shield them from deportations and offer them work permits if they have lived in the country for at least 10 years.