Biden's new policy to give deportation protection to spouses of US citizens

President Joe Biden is planning to announce a sweeping new policy Tuesday that would lift the threat of deportation for tens of thousands of people married to US citizens, an aggressive election-year action on immigration that had been sought by many Democrats.

Biden was hosting a White House event to celebrate an Obama-era directive that offered deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants and will announce the new programme then, according to three people briefed on the White House plans.

The policy will allow roughly 490,000 spouses of US citizens an opportunity to apply for a parole in place programme, which would shield them from deportations and offer them work permits if they have lived in the country for at least 10 years, according to two of the people briefed.

They all spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the announcement publicly.

The White House on Monday declined to comment on the announcement.

Families who would