At a White House event, Biden criticized Trump for separating migrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border and using incendiary language about immigrants in the U.S. illegally, including comments that they were "poisoning the blood of our country."

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The new Biden program will be open to an estimated 500,000 spouses who have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years as of June 17, officials said on Tuesday. Some 50,000 children under age 21 with a U.S.-citizen parent also will be eligible.

Former President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Biden launched the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012, another major legalization effort that currently grants deportation relief and work permits to 528,000 people brought to the U.S. as children.

Biden’s White House remarks were tied to the anniversary of DACA program. The Biden administration also announced guidance to make it easier for DACA recipients to obtain skilled-work visas.

Biden, a Democrat seeking a second term in the Nov. 5 presidential election, took office vowing to reverse many of Trump’s restrictive immigration policies. But faced with record levels of migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border, Biden has toughened his approach.