Immigration policy change gives MI couple hope
ALMA, Mich. (WLNS) – A major change to immigration policy announced by the White House recently is giving a mid-Michigan couple hope that years of living in fear of deportation could be coming to an end.
The process would create a streamlined pathway to permanent residency for eligible non-citizen spouses without having to leave the country.
“What if we get pulled over? What am I going to tell the kids? They’re going to say ‘Why did I have to go over there? Why did this have to happen?'” said Estella Garcia.
It’s a fear that Garcia and her husband, Victor Alvarado Castillo, experience every day and have lived with for the last three decades they have been together.
The entire state of Michigan lies within the 100-mile international border zone, which gives Immigration and Customs officials jurisdiction.
Garcia, a U.S. citizen, met Alvarado Castillo, who did not enter the U.S. legally, in Alma in 1989. Through the years, they raised Garcia’s two kids from a previous marriage and got married themselves in 2017. Garcia says their marriage was a spur-of-the-moment decision after living together and caring for one another’s health as they aged.
The couple now (WLNS) The couple when they were younger (WLNS)
She says she surprised her best friend and her brother by taking them to the courthouse to act as witnesses.
“It was last minute, got it in my head—now or never,” Garcia says about the experience.
Their story stands to benefit from changes in immigration policy made by President Biden last week.
To be eligible, applicants must already be married, have been in the U.S. for ten years or more, and must have no criminal record. Their children are also eligible under the new protections.
Veronica Thronson with the Immigration Law Clinic at Michigan State University says this process originally meant spouses would have to go back to their native country to start the paperwork to legally live in the U.S.
However, those who entered the country illegally would trigger a 10-year bar of inadmissibility which would prevent them from even starting the process for a decade.
“So, people are in limbo, right? Married to a U.S. citizen, but they cannot do the paperwork because they don’t want to risk having to stay outside for 10 years,” said Thronson.
That 10-year wait would have been a drastic change for Alvarado Castillo who has limited mobility after losing his leg to diabetes.
He calls this policy change a “blessing” and says it’s an opportunity, not just for him, but for thousands of people with similar stories.
“Many of them have families. They work and they are grandparents,” he said to 6 News in Spanish.
Thronson says lawyers are still waiting on details for the process like what paperwork or fees will be required. She warns people who are interested in applying under the new rules to watch out for people claiming to be ready to process their claims/
She says, in the meantime, collect documents that prove 10 years of living in the U.S., such as bills and marriage certificates.
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