Undocumented Spouses of U.S. Citizens to be Afforded Legal Protections

President Biden is expected to announce new policy today which will grant undocumented spouses of US citizens a pathway to citizenship, protecting certain individuals from deportation, and providing work permits. Officials briefed on the conversations said it could affect up to 500,000 undocumented spouses. We will update as news develops.

BuzzFeed News: "'Illegal Alien' Will No Longer Be Used In Many US Government Communications"

For many years the American government has used such terms as “alien” and “illegal alien” when referring to non-US citizens—terms that many immigration advocates have denounced as “dehumanizing” and offensive. Now, under direction from the Biden administration, Tracy Renaud, the senior official performing the duties of the director of US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), has issued a memo for the agency to no longer refer to foreign nationals as “illegal alien,” “alien,” or “undocumented alien” in internal and external communications, but rather to use the terms “noncitizen,” “undocumented noncitizen,” or “undocumented individual.” Additionally, USCIS will no longer use “assimilation,” but instead use the term “integration,” and also will refer to those who apply for immigration benefits as “customers.”

Read more