MIAMI (AP) — When registration opened Monday for an estimated 500,000 spouses of U.S. citizens to obtain legal status without first having to leave the country, Karen and Xavier Chavarria had nothing to celebrate.
Like many others, Karen left the United States voluntarily—in her case, to Nicaragua—as the price of her illegal residency. She wanted to buy enough time to return to the country and reunite with her husband, Xavier, on a path to citizenship.
Joe Biden’s offer to grant citizenship without first leaving the country for 10 years is one of the biggest presidential moves to ease entry for immigrants since 2012, when the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program provided temporary but renewable stays to hundreds of thousands of people who came to the United States with their parents as young children.
To qualify, spouses must have lived in the United States continuously for 10 years on June 17, 2024, and be married at that time. The Biden administration estimates that 500,000 spouses could benefit, plus 50,000 stepchildren of U.S. citizens.
“Without this process, hundreds of thousands of noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens are likely to remain in the United States without legal status, leaving these families in fear and uncertainty about their future,” the Homeland Security Department said Monday in a document describing the policy. Forcing spouses to leave the country “disrupts the economic and emotional well-being of the family.”
Spouses who do not meet the required dates and other eligibility criteria are faced with a painful choice: voluntarily leave the country for years to gain the right to re-enter, or remain in the United States without legal status.
Karen Chavarria returned to Nicaragua in 2017 and reported to a U.S. consulate for an interview as part of her petition to be reunited with her husband in the United States. She crossed the border from Mexico in 2002 and applied for legal status after marrying Xavier, 57, who works as a building maintenance worker in New York and lives in Garfield, New Jersey. They have two children, both U.S. citizens.
Xavier travels at least twice a year to visit Karen, 41, and their 12-year-old son, who live in Jinotega, north of Nicaragua’s capital, Managua. Xavier said he can’t live in Nicaragua because he can’t find work there, has no treatment options for diabetes, and fears for his safety because his family has been in the political opposition there for years. Their 20-year-old daughter lives in the U.S.
Karen missed important moments, including her daughter’s high school graduation and birthdays. The Biden administration’s offer to spouses who choose to remain in the U.S. filled her with despair.
“It is something we fought for and after so much struggle we arrived here without giving ourselves any hope,” she said, crying, in a video interview from Nicaragua.
It’s unclear how many spouses have left the U.S. voluntarily. But Eric Lee, an immigration attorney with offices in Michigan and California, said it’s a “huge” number. Immigrant and advocacy groups have called on the White House to include them in the new policy.
“The only reason so many people are being punished is because they tried to come out of the shadows and follow the law,” Lee said.
Homeland Security did not respond to questions about whether people who left the country voluntarily were eligible, saying only that they “may be eligible for continued processing abroad.”
The department said Monday that 64% of the potential beneficiaries are from Mexico and 20% are from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. They are eligible to remain in the United States for three years under presidential authority, known as parole, for a fee of $580, which includes the opportunity to apply for a work permit, a green card and eventually citizenship.
People who pose a threat to national security or public safety, and people convicted of serious crimes, such as drunk driving, are disqualified. The same goes for people who are members of a gang.
Juan Enrique Sauceda, 47, waits in Piedras Negras, Mexico, across the border from Eagle Pass, Texas. He was deported in 2019 while married to a U.S. citizen and has applied for reentry. His wife and two children live in Houston.
“I want to go back to the United States because that’s where I grew up, I have my wife, my kids, everything,” Saucedo said. “I don’t fit in here.”
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Spagat reported from San Diego. Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana in Rocklin, Calif., contributed.
