https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article291201695.htmlApproximately 500,000 noncitizen spouses and 50,000 noncitizen stepchildren of U.S. citizens could be eligible to access President Biden’s Keeping Families Together program, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
“This is an extension of an existing program known as parole in place,” said Matias Bernal, executive director of the Fresno-based Educational Foundation, adding that the executive order that President Joe Biden announced on June 17, extends the program to those two new categories. Federal officials announced the specifics of the program on Monday.
“This program helps create and close the gap where families don’t have to be separated,” said Xavier Vázquez Báez, immigration services program manager with Centro La Familia Advocacy Services Inc. in Fresno. “This is not immigration reform. This just helps close the gap from doing consular process and reducing wait times.”
“It’s a little Band-Aid,” Vázquez Báez said.
If granted parole, noncitizen spouses and noncitizen stepchildren of U.S. citizens, if eligible, could apply for lawful permanent residence without leaving the country.
“Too often, noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens – many of them mothers and fathers – live with uncertainty due to undue barriers in our immigration system,” said Ur M. Jaddou, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in a statement. “This process to keep U.S. families together will remove these undue barriers for those who would otherwise qualify to live and work lawfully in the U.S.”
