Biden Says ‘every country must secure its borders’, Blames Trump as Republicans Decry New ‘amnesty’ for 550K; Biden Gives Legal Status to Immigrant Spouses of U.S. Citizens

Biden says ‘every country must secure its borders’, blames Trump as Republicans decry new ‘amnesty’ for 550K:

President Biden declared himself a champion of national sovereignty Tuesday — insisting “every country must secure its borders” as he announced new initiatives that Republicans decried as “amnesty” for about 550,000 long-term US residents who arrived illegally.

The 81-year-old president, who has presided over three years of record-breaking illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border, tried to blame his predecessor and general election rival Donald Trump while unveiling plans to quicken permanent residency for people living in the country unlawfully while married to Americans and to speed up work permits for non-citizens who graduate from US colleges.

Biden began his remarks by erroneously suggesting a “significant portion” of his early 2021 immigration policy proposals were “being passed,” before correcting himself to say “by executive order.”

“Every nation must secure its borders — it’s just that simple,” the president said as he announced the more permissive policies.

“If Trump and the Republicans wouldn’t do it working with me, then I would do it on my own, and I did,” Biden said — referring to his June 4 executive order that threatened to halt asylum processing at the border if the average number of illegal arrivals crosses 2,500 per day in a week.

“We can both secure the border and provide legal pathways to citizenship,” the president continued.

“We have to acknowledge that the patience and goodwill of the American people is being tested by their fears of the border.

“They don’t understand a lot of it. These are the fears my predecessor is trying to prey on when he says immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood’ of the country.”

Biden and his aides described both reforms announced Tuesday as helping people gain status that they’re already able to acquire — but Republicans slammed the move as likely to prompt even more illegal immigration. —>READ MORE HERE

Biden Gives Legal Status to Immigrant Spouses of U.S. Citizens:

President Biden announced a new immigration program Tuesday that provides a path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the country illegally who are married to U.S. citizens.

Biden plans to promote the announcement at the White House alongside members of Congress, immigration advocates and U.S. citizens who, because of arcane immigration rules, haven’t been able to sponsor their spouses for green cards.

The program has the potential to benefit immigrants who have been living in the country at least a decade, offering them work permits, deportation protections—and a route for them to apply for green cards, which is the pathway to citizenship.

The application process is expected to open by the end of the summer, an administration official said. To qualify, immigrants must have been in the U.S. for at least 10 years and married as of Monday.

The program’s size would make it one of the largest immigration initiatives started in recent decades, rivaled only by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that former President Barack Obama created to benefit Dreamers in 2012. The White House is also planning to mark the 12-year anniversary of that program, known as DACA, at the event Tuesday.

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that Biden was weighing the spouses program.

Two weeks ago, Biden announced, in an election-year gamble to lower illegal crossings, one of his harshest immigration policies to date: a blanket asylum ban on immigrants crossing the border illegally. The president’s advisers have thought for months that, to avoid further angering immigration advocates and Latino voters with family members lacking a legal status, new border restrictions ought to be paired with a sweetener to benefit longtime immigrants already living in the U.S. —>READ MORE HERE (or HERE)

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