One million undocumented immigrants were not granted citizenship by U.S. President Joe Biden in June, despite social media posts misrepresenting a new program for certain noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens.
The post refers to Biden’s June 18 announcement of new actions that include easing the process for eligible noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens to obtain lawful permanent residence (LPR).
Reuters reported the new program will be open to an estimated 500,000 noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens and about 50,000 children with a U.S.-citizen parent, contrary to the figure stated in the post online.
Further contradicting the social media posts, the policy also does not grant citizenship to undocumented immigrants outright.
A noncitizen spouse of a U.S. citizen with LPR must typically wait three years before being eligible to apply for citizenship via the naturalization process, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens are already permitted to apply for LPR, also known as a Green Card, via what is called an Adjustment of Status. In many cases, immigrants who entered the country illegally must leave the U.S. for years before returning legally.
Biden’s action states it will help eligible noncitizen spouses and children of U.S. citizens apply for LPR without leaving the country.
Eligible spouses must have been present in the U.S. without admission or parole for at least 10 years as of June 17 and married to a U.S. citizen by that date, according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Fact Sheet.
VERDICT
False. Biden did not grant citizenship to one million undocumented immigrants. A new policy eases the process for eligible noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens to obtain lawful permanent residence.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.
