Miguel Aleman, a 39-year-old who came to the United States from Mexico at the age of four, is one of hundreds of thousands of immigrants seeking a route to citizenship through a new Biden administration program launching on Monday. This program is one of the significant actions by Democratic President Joe Biden to grant legal status to long-term US residents who entered the country illegally. It is introduced just months before the November 5 election, where Republicans have focused heavily on illegal immigration.
Without this program, Aleman, who has two young children with his US-citizen wife and works as an Uber driver, would be required to move to Mexico—possibly for a decade or more—before being allowed to return legally. "My whole family is here," said Aleman, among dozens of immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, and the Philippines who attended a Friday information session on the program organized by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.
Keeping Families Together, announced in June, will be available to an estimated 500,000 spouses who have resided in the United States for at least 10 years as of June 17, according to Biden administration officials. Approximately 50,000 children under age 21 with a US-citizen parent will also be eligible. Biden introduced this legalization program before exiting the presidential race against Republican Donald Trump, an immigration hardliner, in July. Vice-President Kamala Harris, who became the Democratic candidate earlier this month, is set to formally accept the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Thursday.
Trump has criticized Harris for the high numbers of migrants caught illegally crossing the US-Mexico border since she and Biden took office in 2021. Harris has responded by emphasizing her enforcement record and Trump's opposition to a bipartisan border security bill that failed to progress in the US Senate earlier this year. At campaign events in Arizona and Nevada this month, Harris advocated for "an earned pathway to citizenship" for immigrants in the United States illegally.
Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt in June described the citizenship program as a "mass amnesty" and reiterated Trump's promise to deport historic numbers of immigrants in the country illegally if re-elected. Keeping Families Together enables qualifying spouses to apply for permanent residence without leaving the United States, where they would otherwise need to depart for years before being allowed to return. A spouse who gains permanent residence, also known as a green card, can apply for citizenship after three years.
The program is expected to face legal challenges led by Republicans. It could also provide a path to citizenship for some individuals enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which offers deportation relief and work permits to immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children. DACA was initiated in 2012 by President Barack Obama while Biden was vice-president. Trump attempted to end the DACA program during his presidency but was blocked by the Supreme Court. Texas and other states with Republican attorneys-general continue to contest DACA's legality.
Aleman is enrolled in DACA but hopes to obtain permanent status through Keeping Families Together. "I want to keep contributing to this country," he said.
