Opinion: Republicans have frozen a program meant to help 500,000 American families like mine

A federal judge in Texas has extended a freeze on the Keeping Families Together program, an executive order issued by President Biden in June to protect undocumented spouses of American citizens.

Within days of its first applications in August, 16 Republican-led states sued the Biden administration over the order, leading to what the court is calling an “administrative stay.”

If the order is restored, it will bring unprecedented relief to the over 500,000 American families it could affect, especially the husbands and wives who are citizens of this country and fearful for their loved ones.

I know because I was recently one of them.

When I met my wife in 2015, she was past the legal exit date on her tourist visa, and well into an unauthorized stay in the country. By the time of our being together, then-candidate Donald Trump had insisted there would be “no amnesty” for undocumented immigrants and had promised to round up and deport 11 million people. Although I doubt cute massage therapists from Chile were high on his list, my wife still fell neatly into the category of people he was targeting.

Because she had entered legally into the country, there was still hope for a green card and eventual citizenship through marriage. For a vast majority of people affected by Biden’s executive order, this was not the case…until now.

Among its many details , the order only applies to immigrants who have been in the U.S. for at least 10 years and who were married before June 17, 2024 — the day of its issue. With so many stipulations, it would be hard to work the system by marrying for paperwork purposes. Even so, it is not an easy process. We went through several rigorous interviews with a ton of paperwork to establish that our relationship was real. We felt quite scrutinized the entire way.

Although most applicants will come from Mexico and Central America instead of Chile, I can guarantee that the emotions involved will be no different. Their spouses are Americans, like myself. The fear I felt as an American citizen in love with someone without legal status was overwhelming, a daily intrusion into the happiness we were building. Many other families have felt what we felt, namely that fear of separation, but this order has the opportunity to provide security and solace for those Americans and their loved ones. Our relief has been tremendous, and I believe theirs will be too.

Critics of the order had previously described it as a “pull factor,” likely to draw even more illegal immigration. Now Republican states have sued, claiming that it is an overreach of the federal government and the equivalent of a “mass amnesty.”

As of Sept. 10, at least one federal judge has agreed with them, leading to an extended freeze on the program. But the circumstances to qualify for the order would eliminate the major bulk of immigrants. By some estimates, the average eligible individual has already been in the U.S. for 23 years .

That is a long time — these are fully integrated people.

In talking about the actions when they were first announced in June, Jill Biden described the scenario of an immigrant coming to the U.S., falling in love and building a life. That was my wife. That was me. We have built a beautiful life. We have two daughters, jobs that we love and the ability to travel freely.

My wife is now an American citizen, and it makes us happy beyond compare. But if the administration’s numbers are correct, there are currently 500,000 American families that cannot say the same thing. They might now have the chance — but only if the courts uphold the executive action.

In its essence, the order offers a stay of deportation (also known as “parole in place”), an ability to apply for legal status while remaining in the country, and a potential path toward work and citizenship as its end goal. They are not just handing out green cards, but rather protecting families from the dreadful prospect of separation due to immigration laws.

Biden called this a “common sense fix.” Beyond all of the politics, it is the human thing to do.

I cannot imagine our lives without the simple piece of paper that allows my family to call this country “home.” I cannot fathom what so many other immigrant families have gone through, including the wives and husbands of American citizens.

I do not have all the answers to the many real immigration problems facing the U.S., but I know that this action, meant to solidify the lives of people already living and working in the U.S., already part of American families, will lift a heavy burden off of a lot of shoulders. And that is something to celebrate.

Andrew Behrendt is a writer and teacher in Colorado. He is working on a book about his family’s history.

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