Thanks, President Biden, for helping mixed-immigration-status families like mine

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I am a citizen of the United States, born and raised in Minnesota, and the mother of a U.S. citizen. For nearly two decades, I have been married to a wonderful man and we have created a great life together in Minnesota, my home state and his adopted home. Unless you know us personally, you’d never guess the level of stress and fear we’ve dealt with on a daily basis due to the very real possibility that my husband could be forced to leave the country and be separated from his family at any time because of his undocumented immigration status.

Yet, the chronic stress of knowing this could happen is real, and it has affected every part of our lives.

Despite filing taxes jointly as a married couple for the past 17 years, we can rely only on my income when applying for loans. Our son, who has gone with me to vote in every election since he was born and traveled with me to Washington, D.C., to advocate so “Papi can get a passport,” shows signs of separation anxiety and fear over the possibility that Papi could be taken away from us. And I cannot list my husband as a life insurance beneficiary because he does not have a Social Security number.

Over the past two years, I participated in several events in Washington at which I urged both Congress and President Joe Biden to fix the broken immigration system in the United States. In November, I was accompanied by my mother, son and more than 2,000 others to march to the White House, our voices pleading with the executive branch to “Keep our spouses in our houses!”

On behalf of my family, and the more than 1 million families like ours, my husband and I — along with American Families United (AFU), which has worked closely with American Immigration Business Coalition — are thanking Biden today for using his authority to extend work permits to undocumented workers who, like my husband, have been long-term contributors to the U.S. economy.

Along with parole for the spouses of U.S. citizens comes legal work authorization. For my family in particular, this prospect has had an immediate positive impact on my husband’s situation. Media heavily covered the news of the executive order this past Tuesday. By Wednesday, my husband was put on a track for additional training and eventual promotion.

Part of the framework for parole laid out by the Department of Homeland Security is a minimum 10-year residency requirement. On average, undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens have resided in the U.S. for 23 years. This is their country, too. They’ve been working, paying taxes and contributing to the quality of life we all cherish. They’re our spouses, friends and neighbors. Their children are your children’s friends, teammates and peers — and they’re suffering.

I have been a volunteer with AFU for a decade, advocating to fix bad laws and policies and ensure that my family, and other mixed-status marriages in the U.S., are granted the freedom to simply live together and continue contributing to the communities we call home.

The night I met my husband, he asked me to dance a merengue. Halfway through, he smiled his beautiful smile — and I knew right away that I would love him.

It’s been 20 years together since the night we met. When I look at the trajectory my life has taken, it seems this path was inevitable. My favorite band, 311, sings in one of their songs, “I believe we came from the same cloud, two drops in the ocean.” This is how I feel, every day — that our paths were destined to meet.

This parole announcement is a first step. Over the next several weeks, AFU will build upon the momentum that led us to this moment as we work with the administration and DHS to define a policy that will benefit as many families as possible within the bounds of the president’s authority.

Executive action can only go so far to fix problems with the family-based legal immigration laws though. The final step to secure our ability to pursue life, liberty and happiness is to enact the American Families United Act, a bipartisan effort led by U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar. The advocacy of impacted families and our allies is needed now more than ever to ensure victory for all — a solution that is permanent and available to all bona fide mixed-immigration-status marriages.