President Joe Biden has had to walk a tightrope on the subject of immigration during his term in office. He has supported programs that were a holdover from the administration of Donald Trump, and just recently announced a tightening of the rules on claiming asylum at the border in an effort to slow the flow of people making such claims. Neither one of these policies went over very well with the progressives in his own party, but this week Biden shifted gears and announced a policy that will benefit the lives of approximately 500,000 people. Undocumented spouses of America citizens who have lived in the country for 10 years or more will have a much easier path to citizenship under Biden's new program. Politically, this may provide a balance to Biden's more restrictive moves on immigration.

Normally -- and I speak from the voice of experience, here -- an American citizen who marries a foreign national can sponsor the foreign spouse for a green card (legal residency and the ability to work legally) and eventually citizenship. The process takes a minimum of three years, although it can be longer if there's a backlog and/or delays in the processing. But this is only available if the spouse entered the United States legally.

If the spouse enters illegally (by crossing the southern border, say) then what they are supposed to do after marrying an American citizen is to return to their country of origin and start the paperwork process from there. This usually means years of waiting, and often means being separated from their spouse for that period (if the spouse stays in the United States during the process). This is not what you'd call conducive to a happy marriage, but those are the rules.

Many such persons don't even bother applying for legal status, choosing instead to stay in America and live their married lives together with their spouses. Given the option between a years-long wait for paperwork to be processed (with no guarantee of success, mind you) and living here undocumented with their new family, it's easy to see why many choose the latter. There are an estimated 1.1 million people currently living under these circumstances in this country. Biden's new program will help roughly half of them -- the ones who have been here for 10 years or longer and do not have a criminal record. They will be able to apply for a green card without having to return to their country of origin. This will allow them to work here legally and not have to worry about the threat of deportation any longer. Eventually, they will be able to become American citizens, after a five-year period of legal residency.

None of this will happen immediately. The Biden administration estimates that the program will begin accepting applications "by the end of the summer." Biden unveiled the program yesterday with an announcement:

"These couples have been raising families, sending their kids to church and school, paying taxes, contributing to our country," [President Joe] Biden said at the White House, where he was joined by members of Congress and [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] recipients, known as Dreamers. "They're living in the United States all this time with fear and uncertainty. We can fix that."

Mr. Biden also said he would make it easier for young immigrants, including Dreamers, to gain access to work visas, a significant move that could help them eventually get a green card. That would protect their legal status even if DACA, which is already tied up in litigation, disappears.

Initially, Biden wanted to see Congress act on immigration, but that became impossible earlier this year. The president was ready to sign a deal (that was largely written by Republicans) as part of a foreign aid package, but then Donald Trump let it be known that he wanted the deal killed so he could use it as a campaign issue all year long. This is why Biden has made his recent moves using executive power instead (both the new policy for spouses and the asylum restrictions at the border). Since Republicans refused to act -- even on a bill they had largely written themselves -- Biden was left to act on his own.

Politically this will be seen as an effort to shore up Biden's standing with Latinos. Biden's new border policy has already led to a significant drop in illegal border-crossers, which (as mentioned) did not exactly endear him to progressive Democrats. His new policy on spouses should be welcomed not just by this wing of his party, but by the hundreds of thousands of people directly affected. It could boost Biden's chances in crucial swing states such as Nevada, Arizona, and Georgia, all of which have more than 100,000 "mixed status" households. The Biden administration is portraying this as a measure to "keep American families together."

Whether it works politically or not, it will make life a lot easier for a whole lot of people. Of course, Republicans will challenge the new policy in court, which may either delay it or kill it altogether. There's no guarantee of success here, to put it another way. But at least Joe Biden is trying to improve things. Absent an actual immigration reform law passing Congress (which doesn't seem likely in the near future), such policies are going to be left to the president to implement, one way or another. No matter the ultimate success of such a program (both politically and in the courts), at least Joe Biden is trying to effect a change for the better.

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant