People rally with the "Home is Here" campaign outside the U.S. Supreme Court in 2019. Carl Roose/AFSC
Today, the Biden Administration announced an executive action that will give qualifying undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens and a small number of young people the ability to apply for "parole in place." The action also streamlines the process for eligible undocumented college graduates, including DACA recipients and Dreamers, to obtain work visas. This would allow people who qualify access to a work permit and, in some cases, a pathway to Legal Permanent Residency. This action has the potential to provide temporary legal protections for an estimated 480,000 people, or approximately 4% of those living in the U.S. who currently lack a pathway to adjust their immigration status.
We celebrate this action as a small step forward towards a more welcoming system that will treat families with respect and dignity. And we call on the Biden administration and Congress to take more substantive action towards an immigration system that includes citizenship for all our undocumented family members, loved ones and neighbors.
This order comes on the heels of the Biden Administration’s cruel anti-immigrant, anti-asylum policy changes coupled with record levels of funding for inhumane detention, immoral deportations, and deadly and ineffective border walls.
We need safety and security for all our loved ones, not just these few. We will continue to demand the Biden administration and Congress pass legislation that would keep ALL our families together and allow all people in the U.S. the ability to live and work with dignity.
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The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) promotes a world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light within each person, we nurture the seeds of change and the respect for human life to fundamentally transform our societies and institutions. We work with people and partners worldwide, of all faiths and backgrounds, to meet urgent community needs, challenge injustice, and build peace.