Washington, D.C. – Today, the Biden Administration announced a new executive order that will grant parole in place to half a million undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens and guidance to streamline the process for some DACA recipients and DACA-eligible youth applying for employment based visas. This order will provide protection from deportation, work authorization, and a possible pathway for adjustment of status for hundreds of thousands of undocumented individuals, including approximately 90,000 DACA recipients who are currently married to U.S. citizens. This new executive order will apply to undocumented people who have been living in the U.S. for ten years and married to a U.S. citizen before June 17, 2024.
Bruna Sollod, Senior Political Director of United We Dream Action, said:
“Today’s movement victory is unmistakable evidence that a future where our people are safe and protected is absolutely possible through concerted, relentless pushing on our targets. From winning DACA nearly 12 years ago, to securing access to healthcare for DACA recipients through the Affordable Care Act earlier this year, and now securing relief for roughly half a million people through today’s executive order, immigrant youth continue to prove time and time again that we are powerful. We are forcing the door wide open and proving that meaningful change can happen now.
Today’s movement victory is one of the largest we’ve had since winning DACA and will help countless families stay together, allowing hundreds of thousands of people to continue to live in the places they call home, with the people they love, without fear of detention and deportation for the first time in their lives. In the face of calculated and violent assaults by MAGA extremists –including Trump’s Project 2025 plans to carry out mass detention and deportations if re-elected– today’s victory is also a reminder that we cannot quit until we cement permanent protections for every single one of our loved ones, including the many who today’s relief does not apply to.
With a violent rise in white supremacy and fascism that continues to put every single one of our lives on the line, we know this election year is bigger than any one candidate. It is about winning unassailable protections to shield our communities from harm and stave off brutal assaults against our freedoms and our rights. As we look towards November, young people are fired up to yield our growing political and electoral power to defeat fascism and win protections for us all.”