The United States government, under President Joe Biden, is working towards providing a legal pathway to citizenship to children of legal immigrants who fear being deported because of being aged out, the White House said on Wednesday.

At her daily news conference, press secretary Jen Psaki affirmed, “Obviously taking steps to ensure we are providing a legal pathway to citizenship and especially for kids who came into this country, as you referenced innocently with their family members,” according to PTI reports.

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Fear has been rising amongst a section of children and their parents about their future in the country due to decades-long wait for their green cards.

Parents of these kids had come to the US as legal immigrants on H-1B visas. Under US laws, children cease to be dependent on their parents after they turn 21. As a result, thousands of children are facing being aged out.

According to Improve the Dream, a group representing such children, they number more than 200,000.

“Obviously taking steps to ensure we are providing a legal pathway to citizenship and especially for kids who came into this country, as you referenced innocently with their family members,” Psaki said.

A White House spokesperson said President Joe Biden has been clear that America’s immigration system needs to be reformed.

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“That includes improvements to the visa process. In the immigration bill he sent to Congress he’s pretty clear. It reforms the family-based immigration system by clearing backlogs, recapturing unused visas, eliminating lengthy wait times and increasing per-country visa caps,” the spokesperson said, according to PTI inputs.

“The bill provides dependents of H-1B visa holders work authorisation and children are prevented from ageing out of the system,” said the spokesperson.

For the past several months, immigrant children have been running from pillar to post in the American capital to make their voices heard. The positive response comes as a relief to these youths.