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WEST VALLEY CITY — New federal guidelines took effect Monday simplifying the process for some immigrants living here illegally to secure legal U.S. residency through their American spouses.
"This is very good news for my clients," said Ysabel Lonazco, a West Valley City-based immigration attorney.
Carlos Trujillo, a South Jordan-based immigration attorney, said the new Keeping Families Together process — announced by President Joe Biden in June — could impact 20,000 to 30,000 immigrants in Utah, maybe even as many as 50,000. "That's a wild guess," he said. Nationwide, according to U.S. immigration officials' estimates, the measure could apply to 500,000 noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens and 50,000 more noncitizen stepchildren.
"We have identified a lot of our own clients that will qualify, and the excitement is real and palpable," Trujillo said. "These are people already living in our community. These are the spouses of your neighbors or U.S. citizens."
Per the new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services guidelines, immigrants who had already been able to apply for legal U.S. residency through their spouses won't have to travel for an interview at a U.S. consulate in their home country. Having to return to their home country has been a key concern for some going through the process, worried at the possibility of not being allowed reentry back into the United States.
Moreover, Trujillo estimates, the process of seeking legal permanent residency, which currently takes five to seven years, could be whittled to two or two-and-a-half years. Notably, the changes aren't an "amnesty," he said, and don't create a new pool of immigrants here illegally who can now pursue legal residency.
Most who may benefit from the streamlined process were already allowed to become permanent residents through marriage. Permanent residency grants work permission to those who get it. "So this is something that's not amnesty or anything like that. This is just to make it easier in our own families and in our own communities because these are spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens," he said.
The excitement of Lonazco and Trujillo notwithstanding, when Biden announced the executive action on June 18, the changes drew fire from former President Donald Trump, who has put a focus on curbing illegal immigration as the GOP U.S. presidential hopeful. He predicted a "deluge of illegals" would immediately be granted legal permanent residency under the program, according to NBC News, and immigrant advocates acknowledge the Keep Families Together changes could face a legal challenge.
"That is very possible," said Claudia Tristan of MomsRising.org, a national group that advocates on behalf of women, mothers and families and favors the change. "It's unfortunate because this is a process that already exists and all we're doing is simplifying it."
Lonazco, who had already submitted a residency application on behalf of a client as of Monday afternoon under the new guidelines and was working on three more, said some immigrants have been eligible to apply for residency under the old guidelines, but haven't. With the changes, she suspects some of them may now be willing to go through the process. "They were just so afraid to ever leave the United States because of the fear they would not come back," she said.
Aside from being the spouse of a U.S. citizen on or before June 17, those eligible to apply for legal residency under the new process must have been in the country since June 17, 2014. They must have "no disqualifying criminal history" and can't be "a threat to public safety."
Eligible stepchildren must have been under 21 and unmarried as of June 17 this year and also can't have a criminal history, according to the guidelines. Their noncitizen parent must have married a U.S. citizen on or before June 17 and before the child turned 18.
