Top immigration experts are criticizing the Biden administration’s plan to expand “parole-in-place” qualifications for illegal immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens. This policy, originally introduced by President Bill Clinton in 1998 and further used for family members of U.S. service members since 2016, is expected to shield up to half a million illegal immigrants from deportation. Former Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan believes that this move will encourage more illegal immigration and marriage fraud. He criticizes the administration for not securing the border and instead offering amnesty to those who enter illegally.
Homan warns that the parole-in-place program will incentivize illegal immigrants to enter the U.S. and hide out until they can take advantage of the amnesty program. He believes that this move is just a political ploy and will lead to more illegal crossings and further harm to U.S. citizens. The program has specific conditions, including a minimum of 10 years of residence in the U.S., a legal marriage to a U.S. citizen, and a clean criminal record. The total number of individuals who may qualify for the program is uncertain, with estimates ranging from 500,000 to 1.1 million.
Former acting director of USCIS, Joe Edlow, expresses concerns about the lack of integrity in allowing individuals to flout immigration laws and potentially remain in the U.S. through the parole-in-place program. He criticizes the Biden administration for essentially shutting down immigration enforcement for the past four years and allowing an indeterminate number of individuals to stay in the country illegally. Another expert compares the potential impact of the parole-in-place program to adding a 51st state to the U.S., fundamentally altering the population dynamics of the country.
Heritage Foundation President Dr. Kevin Roberts believes that the Biden administration’s forthcoming amnesty scheme will be the largest in American history. He warns that adding the population equivalent of an entire state on top of the existing 10 million illegal aliens in the country will have far-reaching implications for American society. With Wyoming having just over 576,000 residents and Vermont about 643,000 as of the 2020 census, the impact of potentially granting amnesty to hundreds of thousands of individuals through the parole-in-place program is significant.
The White House and ICE have not responded to requests for comment regarding the parole-in-place program. Critics argue that this policy will encourage more illegal immigration, marriage fraud, and harm to U.S. citizens. They raise concerns about the lack of integrity in immigration enforcement and the potential for mass amnesty to fundamentally reorder America’s population dynamics. As the Biden administration moves forward with expanding the parole-in-place program, experts continue to voice their reservations and warnings about the implications of such a policy shift.
