50K Michigan immigrants will receive deportation protections under Biden’s order, coalition says 

Susan J. Demas

Cindy Garcia made national headlines in 2018 when her husband, Jorge, was deported to Mexico. Garcia is an American citizen, but her husband was not. He stayed in Mexico for two years, waiting for a waiver allowing his return to Michigan and reunion with his wife and children. 

“The trauma we experienced then and now will never change,” Garcia said. “The PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder], the depression, all of it, the anxiety. It will never leave, because we know that every time we see the immigration truck, it may not be my family, but it may be others.”

But new executive orders unveiled by President Joe Biden during a Tuesday White House event recognizing the 12th anniversary of the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, will aim to protect long-term immigrants from deportation. 

The new plan will shield an estimated 50,000 Michigan immigrants and their children, including stepchildren, from deportation and allow them to work in the United States, according to the American Business Immigration Coalition. Additionally, some children of immigrants, including DACA recipients, who graduate from a U.S. university and have a job offer will be eligible for an expedited work visa application process. 

“It gives so many people hope and dignity that they deserve to hold their heads up high and to become true citizens of this country,” said Mary Carmen Muñoz, a leader at Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development. “They’ve worked so hard and so long for this recognition. Muchas gracias, President Biden for this bold and courageous move.”

The order will allow immigrants who are married to a U.S. citizen and have lived in the country for 10 years or more as of Monday to apply for permanent residency without leaving their home in the United States. It will also protect the children of immigrants who are under the age of 21, if the parent is married to a U.S. citizen.  

“I can tell you that this is an incredible opportunity for people that came into this country, searching for opportunity, fell in love and married someone, and they’re American in every single way but on paper,” state House Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck) said.

There are many people who have lived in the U.S. and have families here who will not be eligible for the benefits outlined in the executive order, Adonis Flores, the training director and immigration activist with Michigan United, told the Advance. 

For example, if an immigrant has only lived in the U.S. for only eight years, they will not qualify for the program, regardless of marital status. Additionally, undocumented parents of children who are citizens will also not be eligible. 

“This order is not going to benefit those families,” Flores said to the Advance. “There’s the majority, that’s even a bigger number of families where both parents are undocumented and the kids are U.S. citizens. Those families, we still keep fighting for them.”

Flores also said it would be important for the government to work through applications efficiently, so there was not a long backlog of people waiting for the protections that would keep them in the U.S. It is also important for people planning to apply to go to reputable attorneys and licensed nonprofits for assistance, instead of accidentally seeking help from a fraudulent or unreliable organization. 

GOP backlash

The deportation protections were panned Tuesday by Biden’s likely 2024 opponent, former President Donald Trump. A press release from the likely Republican nominee’s office invoked typical anti-immigration talking points about the executive orders, saying it would increase crime and cost taxpayers “millions.”

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), which works to elect GOP state legislators, also weighed in and said Biden was responsible for the “border crisis.” 

U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Bruce Twp.) criticized the orders on her X account, calling it a “loophole to citizenship.” Additionally, she pointed out the political timeliness of the protections in an election year.

“Awfully convenient move 5 months before an election,” McClain wrote on X. 

State Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Twp.) also took to X to challenge the executive order, saying it would “incentivize” more people to come into the country. The protections would only apply to people who had been in the country for 10 or more years from yesterday. Flores said this policy will likely fall in line with DACA, which would mean people who don’t qualify for the protections today will not be eligible down the road. 

Also on Tuesday, GOP state lawmakers called on Biden to place stricter restrictions on the southern border. State Rep. Bill G. Schuette (R-Midland ) sponsored House Resolution 283.

Economic, electoral and ethical support for the reform

Advocates and Michigan legislators at a virtual press conference Tuesday thanked the Biden administration’s actions, saying it will protect Michigan families and bolster the state’s economy by letting immigrants more easily work. They also thanked immigration activists who have pushed for reform. 

“This program is good for families, good for communities, and it also has the advantage of being good economically, helping to solve a labor shortage that is harming the economy and preventing growth,” said James O’Neill, director of legislative affairs at the American Business Immigration Coalition.

A report from the American Immigration Council published last month found immigrants make up 8.4% of the employed labor force in Michigan, which exceeds their share of the population. Speakers said this reform will help more immigrants enter the workforce and receive higher-paying jobs, strengthening the population’s buying power. 

State Rep. Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton) highlighted the worker shortage in the state, and how allowing work permits to immigrants covered by the executive order could help that issue. 

“It makes no sense to be throwing immigrant workers out of the country in this situation,” Puri, who is an immigrant himself, said. “Let’s let these million spouses of US citizens parole in place, get a work permit while they wait and keep working on contributing to the economy.”

Aiyash also spoke about how immigrants and their families are an important voting bloc for Democratic candidates, and this policy will help Biden’s reelection. Without calling Trump by name at first, Aiyash brought up how the former president denigrated immigrants.

Michigan is a key swing state. Earlier this year, some progressives and Arab-American leaders mounted a protest vote against Joe Biden over the Israel-Hamas war, garnering over 100,000 votes for “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary. 

“The coalition that delivered Joe Biden the presidency in 2020 included folks like the Latino and Arab communities across this country, particularly around swing states,” Aiyash said. “… It’s communities that have folks that would benefit from this policy that will see this direct impact and be motivated to turn out to vote this November.”

Aiyash also highlighted the moral impetus to keep families together, regardless of economic impact.

“I don’t think it’s an American value, it certainly isn’t a Christian value, to yank undocumented spouses out of the hands of their spouse,” said Jack Eggleston, a pastor at Unity Lutheran Church. “… But it is an American value to keep people together.”

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