Joe Biden
“THERE are families in the Marianas that will breathe a sigh of relief because of President Biden’s decision to take this executive action,” according to U.S Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan.
He was referring to President Joe Biden’s announcement that the Department of Homeland Security “will take action to ensure that U.S. citizens with noncitizen spouses and children can keep their families together.”
Sablan congratulated Biden for his decision to offer legal status and a pathway to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants married to U.S. citizens who have lived in the U.S. for 10 or more years, as well as the children of undocumented spouses who are under the age of 21.
Sablan said the new policy would cover about half a million spouses and another 50,000 children. This is the largest immigration program since the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals that currently allows 528,000 individuals who were brought to the U.S. as children to remain and work there, he added.
“Non-U.S. citizen spouses and children are in many cases already eligible for permanent resident status but must leave the country first. President Biden’s action will spare them that expense and keep families together,” he said.
According to the White House, to be eligible, a non-citizen spouse must, as of June 17, 2024, have resided in the U.S. for 10 or more years and be legally married to a U.S. citizen.
The Department of Homeland Security will make a case-by-case determination on each application and may grant a three-year window for the noncitizen to apply for permanent residence in the U.S. The non-citizens will also be eligible for work authorization for up to three years.
But Kilili said Biden’s executive action could be challenged in the court or reversed by another president in the future. He noted that then-President Donald Trump attempted to do away with the DACA program but was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020 for procedural reasons.
Virginia Gudzinas, 67, was happy to hear about Biden’s announcement. She is married to a U.S. citizen and has been residing in the CNMI since 1994.
Although her husband has already petitioned her for permanent residency, Gudzinas, who works as a house caretaker on Saipan, said she is still waiting for the approval of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Variety learned that there are other non-U.S. citizen spouses like Gudzinas who have not been petitioned for permanent residency even though they have been married to U.S. citizens for a long time.
