MINNEAPOLIS — At Mercado Central in south Minneapolis Wednesday, there was a sense of relief in the air in the wake of President Joe Biden's parole-in-place executive order aimed at keeping families of mixed citizenship status together.
The program, which President Biden is creating through executive action, aims to remove the fear of deportation for an estimated 500,000 undocumented immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens, plus 50,000 of their dependents that weren't born in this country.
Those who've been in the U.S. for at least 10 years as of Monday, June 17, will be eligible to apply for permanent legal residency without the need to first leave the country.
"I was only eight years old when I heard my parents talk about making plans for me and my brother in case they were deported," Miranda del Toro, a youth volunteer for Unidos MN, told reporters at an event at Mercado Central.
"President Biden is taking action to protect our future. We need our father with us, taking care of us, watching us grow, graduate, bring our talents to improve our communities as proud Minnesotans."
Stephanie Kilpatrick Salazar, who was born and raised in Minnesota, said her husband has been living in fear of deportation all the while being part of the community and contributing to the state's economy.
"As a master carpenter, my husband's hands have helped build Minnesota landmarks such as stadiums, multi-million-dollar condos and university campuses from the ground up," Kilpatrick Salazar explained.
"Before yesterday's parole-in-place announcement, my children and I lived in fear that Dad would go to work one day and not come home."
Immigration attorney Michelle Garnet McKenzie, who appeared on behalf of The Advocates for Human Rights, said applications won't begin until later this summer. She said people will have to provide the same documentation of residency and marriage as those who apply for parole in the current system.
"These changes will ensure that spouses of US citizens who qualify are not barred from long-term family unity solely because of the way they entered the country."
The Service Employees International Union Local 26 was also on hand at the Unidos MN event to mark the significance of the president's order.
"We see the pain in everybody’s face, the suffering and chaos, by this broken immigration system," Brahim Kone, SEIU Local 26 Secretary-Treasurer, told reporters.
"We believe that families belong together, and a policy like this one shows the best of our political system."
Political reaction
Former President Donald Trump pledged to undo Biden's executive order if reelected in the fall.
"Crooked Joe's action today is illegal, unconstitutional amnesty without approval from Congress, no approval from the courts, or the American people," Trump told a rally crowd in Racine, Wisconsin Tuesday.
"Joe Biden’s illegal amnesty plan will be ripped up and thrown out on the very first day we’re back in office."
Republicans in Minnesota's congressional delegation also condemned the president's action.
"This is just another example of the Biden administration protecting illegal immigrants at the expense of American citizens," Rep. Tom Emmer, the House Majority Whip, asserted in a statement to the media.
His GOP colleague, Rep. Pete Stauber, also blasted Biden.
"Make no mistake. This dangerous executive order will only incentivize more illegal immigration."
But Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar, who spoke at the Unidos event Wednesday, lauded Biden's decision.
"It is a country that is supposed to serve as a beacon of hope for so many people around the world," Rep. Omar said.
"We are talking about people whose lives have been very entwined in American communities for a really long time."
DACA work visas
The president's order will allow those with DACA immigration status who've graduated from an American college and have a job offer to apply for a work visa. It's welcome news to Jose Alvillar Hinojosa, who has DACA status.
"It feels relieving. It feels like good timing," Alvillar Hinojosa told KARE.
"At the core of it just means being able to go to sleep and be able to wake up and be okay."
DACA stands for Deferred Action for Child Arrivals. It's a federal program for undocumented immigrants who were brought here as children before 2007 and were under the age of 31 in 2012.
Alvillar Hinojosa crossed the border at age four with a sister and uncle, hoping to be reunited with his parents who had arrived a month earlier hoping to establish themselves. He still has vivid memories of the cramped detention center where he spent his first few weeks in the US.
"I remember the cold nights. It was a confined concrete room. It was so small people quite literally had to sleep standing. I remember waking up every morning and going to the front of the door and just standing there hoping someone would come and save me."
He did eventually get to his parents and ultimately earned a degree from Augsburg University in Minneapolis.
"As DACA recipients we often say we’re in limbo because there is really no remedy. We are protected from being deported, but there is no pathway to citizenship for us yet even though most of us consider this our home."