New Biden immigration policy could benefit thousands on Long Island (2024)

Long Islandimmigrants who are married to U.S. citizens but lack legal status in the country — people potentially numbering in thethousands— could be put on the path to permanent residency under a new policy the Biden administration announced Tuesday.

The initiative, which begins this summer for those who qualify, couldhelp an estimated 500,000 noncitizen spouses nationwide andabout 50,000 noncitizen childrenwith abiological parent married to a U.S. citizen apply for lawful permanent residency without leaving the country.

In New York, there are roughly 20,000 eligible undocumented spouses married to U.S.citizens, people with an average age of 43 and who have been in the United States, onaverage, for 23 years, according to FWD.us, an immigration and criminal justice reform advocacy organization.

“Under this program, hundreds, if not thousands, of immigrants across Long Island will be able to live without fear of being separated from their families,” said Elise de Castillo, executive director of CARECEN, a Hempsteadand Brentwood-based organization that provides free legal services and education fornew immigrants.

She added Tuesday thatthe initiative will benefit many of her organization's clients, people she said “have become a vital part of our communities and economy for more than a decade, but have been forced into the shadows because of our broken immigration system.”

To qualify, an immigrant must have lived continuously in the country for 10 years as of June 17 and be married to a U.S. citizen, while satisfying requirements such as a clean criminal record, up-to-datevaccinations and havingno communicable diseases. There is no requirement forhow long the couple must have been married.

If U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approves animmigrant’s application, the personwillhave three years to apply for a green card and in the meantime can geta temporary work permit. During that time, the noncitizen willbeshielded from deportation, federal officials said.

A similar policy, known as “parole in place,” is already availablefor noncitizen spouses of U.S. military members.

But Andrew Arthur, resident fellow in law and policy for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based groupthat advocates for stricter immigration enforcement, said the new initiativeissusceptible to fraud and will overwhelm an agency already struggling to processmore than 3 million pending applications.

For example, Arthur said, courts typically accept rent receipts,utility bills and pay stubsas proof of an immigrant'sresidency. Those documents, he said, couldbe manipulated easily to reflect that anoncitizen has lived in the country for a decade.

“There's going to be some … individuals who are married to a U.S. citizen but don't have those 10 years, or alternatively, they left for some period of time and returned to the United States,” he said. “So they're going to have to create documents to show they have the full 10-year period for that relief.”

Nationwide, about 1.3 millionundocumented immigrants have been married to a U.S.citizenfor more thana decade but not all are eligible for the new program, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Migration Policy Institute,a nonpartisan think tank.

An individualwho arrives in the .United States with a visa typically can earnlegal status by marrying a U.S.citizen. But those rules haven'tapplied to immigrants whocross the southern border illegally and later marry U.S. citizens.Theycurrently must return to their home countriesto complete the green card process.

Sister Janet Kinney, director of the Long Island Immigration Clinic, a Brentwoodorganization that provides legal support to undocumented immigrants, said that meanspeople potentially have to live for years incountriesthey left as young children and where they no longer have family.

For Long Islanders whofled violence in nations such as El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, returning home may not be an option,said Samantha Blecher, a senior lawyer at Immigration Law & JusticeNew York in Hicksville, which is connected to the United Methodist Church.

“For security and safety reasons, they probably don't want to go back there and wait it out,” said Blecher.

She added that the existing process takesup to five years,with no guarantees ofgreen card approval.

Immigration attorney H. Raymond Fasano, who has an office in Patchogue, said allowing noncitizen spouses to obtaintemporary work permits “makes common sense” and “helps out the government because that's a new stream of revenue.”

President Joe Biden on Tuesday also announced a plan to expedite work permits for young people brought to the country illegally as children who since have graduated from an accredited college.

Denise Bell, a vice president at New York Immigration Coalition in Manhattan, said each new initiative“creates stronger communities, keeps families together and invests in our workforce.”

With Tom Brune