Joe Biden opens door for 500,000 immigrants to become US citizens

President Joe Biden aims to make it easier for the spouses of Americans to become US citizens (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Joe Biden is taking an expansive, election-year step to offer relief to potentially hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status in the US.

The move is aimed to balance his own aggressive crackdown on the border earlier this month that enraged advocates and many Democratic lawmakers.