On Immigration, Biden Attempts to Replicate a Powerful Obama Moment

The president’s announcement to expand legal protections for some undocumented spouses of American citizens evoked Barack Obama’s move to help young immigrants in 2012.

In the summer before a tough re-election contest in 2012, President Barack Obama was losing support from Latino voters who called him “deporter in chief.” Then he signed a sweeping executive order to shield hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants from deportation.

Luis V. Gutiérrez, an Illinois Democrat and former congressman, recalled that in his district in the Chicago area, some Latinos celebrated the moment in the streets. “Everywhere I went, here’s what people said — ‘Now we’ll vote for him,’” he said. “I swear to God. That is how important that was for him politically.”

Twelve years later, President Biden appeared to be trying to replicate that move.

Mr. Biden on Tuesday drew cheers and several standing ovations from a room of about 200 people, including congressional Democrats and immigrant-rights leaders from across the country, as he unveiled an order expanding legal protections for undocumented spouses of American citizens. He evoked Mr. Obama’s powerful moment by announcing it at an event commemorating the anniversary of the former president’s 2012 executive action for young immigrants, framing his proposal as a way to keep families together.

“I refuse to believe that to protect our border we have to walk away from being an American,” he said, adding that the nation had been revitalized for generations by immigrants. “We can both secure the border and provide legal pathways for families.”

News of Mr. Biden’s order drew widespread praise even before it was announced, including from Latino and immigrant rights advocates and from some former critics who had just weeks ago denounced him as “Border Shutdown” Biden.