Joe Biden has announced a new policy to allow illegal immigrants in the US to obtain legal status if they are married to American citizens, the White House said. The announcement – an election-year move that could energise some liberal voters – comes as the Biden administration has been trying to walk a thin line on immigration. The US president unveiled the effort on Tuesday at a White House event.

The action will apply to those who have been in the country for at least 10 years and married to a US citizen before June 17, 2024. The White House believes that some 500,000 people will benefit. In addition, some 50,000 stepchildren of US citizens would be eligible.

An estimated 1.1 million immigrants in the US illegally are married to American citizens, according to data by advocacy organization FWD.us.

What Does The Move Mean?

The new rules will not expand eligibility for permanent residency, but rather streamline the process for those who already qualify. The rules remove a requirement they leave the country as part of the application process.

Marrying a US citizen generally facilitates US citizenship. But people who crossed the border illegally – rather than arriving in the country with a visa – are required to return to their home countries to complete the process for a green card. The new rules would change that by allowing families to remain in the country while they pursue legal status. “These actions will promote family unity and strengthen our economy, providing a significant benefit to the country and helping US citizens and their noncitizen family members stay together,” the White House said.

Will It Benefit Undocumented Indians In US?

The move is expected to alleviate deportation fears among Indians living in Indian-American households. Indians make up the third-largest group of undocumented immigrants in the United States, as per Pew Research Center’s 2021 estimates. It shows that since 2011, the number of undocumented Indians in the United States has grown by 70 per cent, the fastest growth of all nationalities.

Those who qualify would be granted work authorization and the right to stay in the United States for up to three years while they apply for permanent residency. Once someone has permanent residency – also known as a green card – that person could in theory later apply for citizenship.

In a June 4 remark on the asylum ban, Biden said that in coming weeks he would “speak to how we can make our immigration system more fair and more just.”

The Biden administration has also simplified the process for children who came to the United States illegally — known as Dreamers — to get work visas if they’ve graduated college and have a “high-skilled job offer.”

The Telangana government estimates that the state exchequer may have suffered a loss of up to Rs 6,000 crores because of what they allege were irregularities in the power purchase agreements drawn up by the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi government.

After being issued a notice by a Commission of Inquiry set up to probe suspected irregularities, former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had said no investigation could be ordered into a decision of the Electricity Regulatory Commission. He had also questioned the neutrality of former Justice Narasimha Reddy who is heading the probe panel.

On Tuesday, documents were made available to the media to show that the power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Chhattisgarh had not been ratified and sanctioned by the Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission (TSERC).

Mr Rao, popularly known as KCR, has been critical of the Justice Narasimha Reddy Commission of Inquiry, even calling for the former chief justice of Patna High Court’s recusal. Labelling the commission unlawful, he has argued that it lacks the authority to investigate PPAs and issues related to power plant construction once the TSERC has approved them.

The officials have, however, clarified that although the agreement with Chhattisgarh was operational by the end of 2017, the power supply was only to the extent of 1,000 MW, which meant Telangana had to purchase additional power from the market, incurring an extra cost of Rs 2,083 crore between 2017 and 2022.

“The previous government claimed to have paid Rs 3.9 per unit for power, but the actual cost was Rs 5.64 per unit, including other expenses. Between 2017 and 2022, Telangana purchased 17,996 million units for Rs 7,719 crore. The government claimed it had paid Rs 1,081 crore to Chhattisgarh for power, but the transmission charge for delivering the power was Rs 1,362 crore. Considering all these costs, the per unit expenditure was Rs 5.64, which is Rs 3,110 crore over the agreed price of Rs 3.9 per unit,” a senior official explained.

KCR, who played a pivotal role in the movement for a separate Telangana, became its first chief minister after its creation in 2014 and remained in the seat till last year, when his Bharat Rashtra Samithi was handed a comprehensive defeat by the Congress, which won 64 of the state’s 119 Assembly seats. That number went up to 65 after a recent bypoll.

Several airports across India, including Patna, Coimbatore and Jaipur, received bomb threat emails on Tuesday causing flight delays. The security has been heightened in view of the threat mails. A preliminary inquiry has revealed that the unknown sender had emailed the same bomb threat to 40 airports across India at around 12.40 pm.