A federal judge in Texas has temporarily blocked Joe Biden’s immigration policy that allows undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens to stay in the country until their applications for permanent residency are processed.
The so-called “parole in place” program was suspended Monday night by a ruling by Federal District Judge J Campbell Barker in eastern Texas, a favorite of conservatives seeking to derail the president’s policies. Donald Trump’s White House appointed Barker to his position.
About half a million foreign-born spouses of U.S. citizens were estimated to have been able to participate in the Biden administration’s initiative, announced in June under the banner of “Keeping Families Together.” The application was opened on August 19.
Related: Migrant exploitation is rampant at Louisiana ice centers, report says
Unless or until Barker’s 14-day stay is canceled or revoked on appeal, the previous requirement for applicants to apply for a change of legal status from abroad remains in effect.
Immigration advocates decried the decision as “heartbreaking” and said it could separate multi-status families for years – or even permanently, while their lengthy green card applications are processed.
Barker’s ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed Friday by 16 Republican attorneys general, led by Ken Paxton of Texas, against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It says Biden’s policy “directly violates laws created by Congress” and amounts to blanket amnesty for people who entered the country illegally.
Paxton said Texas taxpayers fund tens of millions of dollars a year in health care and other services for those undocumented immigrants.
“The clothing is significant and deserves closer scrutiny than the court has thus far afforded,” said Barker, who was appointed in 2019 in the third year of Trump’s presidency, in a written decision. The judge set a deadline of October 10 for the opposing parties to present arguments in the case.
DHS can still accept applications, Barker said — but his decision prevents them from being processed. According to Biden’s policy, illegal immigrants who have been married to US citizens and who have lived in the country for at least 10 years are eligible, among other criteria.
Paxton took to Twitter to celebrate Barker’s decision. “Biden’s unconstitutional system would have rewarded more than a million illegal aliens with the chance to become citizens after breaking our country’s laws — and encouraged countless others,” he said.
Neither the White House nor DHS had an immediate reaction to the decision. But immigration advocates said it was an “extreme measure” that would cause irreparable damage.
“This is heartbreaking for our clients and the thousands of couples who hope to benefit from this process and live without the fear of their families being torn apart,” Justice Action Center founder and director Karen Tumlin said in a statement.
“Stopping a process that Texas has not been able to show a shred of evidence that would harm the state is baffling. Texas should not be able to decide the fates of hundreds of thousands of American citizens and their immigrant spouses without facing their reality.”
On Monday, the group filed a motion to intervene on behalf of 11 affected individuals. One of the plaintiffs, Oscar Silva, 23, was brought to the United States from Mexico by his parents when he was a toddler. Silva said he and his wife, Natalie, who is a U.S. citizen, had invested in parole to secure their future.
“I wish everyone could see that my wife and I are just like any other married couple. We want to live knowing that the life we build will not be taken away from us. The parole process would make that a reality, he said.
The Eastern District of Texas falls within the jurisdiction of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. It is a bastion of conservatism after Trump overhauled the federal judiciary during his one term.
Republicans seeking to block parts of Biden’s agenda often bring cases to Texas districts seeking favorable rulings that would likely be upheld by the appeals court, which many observers consider one of the most extreme and influential courts in the United States. It has heard cases on abortion, immigration and gun control.
In June, a panel of Republican-appointed judges in the northern state of Texas blocked a move that could have moved dozens of cases out of the district court’s jurisdiction, making it more difficult for the Biden administration to defend itself in lawsuits in the state.
