An estimated 500,000 immigrants, most from Mexico, married to U.S. citizens will be eligible to apply for permanent residency through their spouses. Federal law requires undocumented immigrants to leave the country for up to 10 years and return legally.
Now, I've already sought and got clarification from immigration experts on the policy. The "leave the country for 10 years and return legally" only applies to people seeking to change immigration status who,
- Entered without a visa (illegally).
- And, who are married to US citizens.
My question is are there really 500,000 undocumented immigrants that meet this criteria. Previously there were two methods to skip the 10 year ban, an I-601, and an I-212. Even if we pretend like neither of these existed or were applicable to anyone are there 500,000 people this could affect? According to the Pew Research,
The unauthorized immigrant population in the United States reached 10.5 million in 2021, according to new Pew Research Center estimates.
This would mean that more than 1/20 undocumented immigrants must be wed to American citizens to get 500,000 people helped. Is this possible?