Judge blocks ‘parole in place’ program for immigrant spouses of US citizens

A federal judge in Texas has temporarily blocked a Joe Biden immigration policy that allows undocumented spouses of US citizens to remain in the country while their applications for permanent residence are considered.

The so-called “parole in place” program was halted in a Monday night ruling by federal district court judge J Campbell Barker in the eastern district of Texas, a favorite venue of conservatives seeking to derail the president’s policy agenda. Barker was appointed to his position by the Donald Trump White House.

About half a million foreign-born spouses of US citizens were estimated to have been eligible for the Biden administration’s initiative that was announced in June under the banner “Keeping Families Together”. Applications opened on 19 August.

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Unless or until Barker’s 14-day stay is lifted or overturned on appeal, the pre-existing requirement for applicants to seek a change in legal status from overseas remains in effect.

Immigration advocates condemned the ruling as “heartbreaking”, saying it could separate mixed-status families for years – or even permanently while their lengthy green card applications are processed.

Barker’s ruling is a response to a lawsuit filed on Friday from 16 Republican attorneys general, led by Ken Paxton of Texas, against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Biden’s policy, it states, “directly violates the laws created by Congress” and amounts to a blanket amnesty for people who entered the country illegally.

Paxton said Texas taxpayers were funding tens of millions of dollars a year in healthcare and other services for those undocumented immigrants.

“The claims are substantial and warrant closer consideration than the court has been able to afford to date,” said a written ruling from Barker, who was appointed in 2019 in the third year of Trump’s presidency. The judge set a deadline of 10 October for the opposing sides to file arguments in the case.

The DHS can still accept applications, Barker said – but his decision prevents them from being processed. Under the Biden policy, undocumented immigrants married to US citizens and residents in the country for at least 10 years, among other criteria, are eligible.

Paxton, in a tweet, celebrated Barker’s ruling. “Biden’s unconstitutional scheme would have rewarded over one million illegal aliens with the opportunity for citizenship after breaking our country’s laws – and incentivized countless more,” he said.

There was no immediate reaction to the ruling from the White House or the DHS. But immigration advocates said it was “an extreme measure” that would cause irreparable harm.

“This is heartbreaking for our clients and the thousands of couples who hope to benefit from this process and be able to live without fear that their family will be separated,” Karen Tumlin, founder and director of Justice Action Center, said in a statement.

“To halt a process for which Texas has not been able to provide an iota of evidence that it would harm the state is baffling. Texas should not be able to decide the fates of hundreds of thousands of US citizens and their immigrant spouses without confronting their reality.”

The group filed a motion to intervene in the case on Monday on behalf of 11 individuals who will be affected. One of the plaintiffs, Oscar Silva, 23, was brought to the US by his parents from Mexico when he was a toddler. Silva said he and his wife, Natalie, a US citizen, had been banking on parole in place to secure their future.

“I wish everyone could see that my wife and I are just like every other married couple you know. We want to be able to live knowing that the life we’re building won’t be taken away from us. The parole process would make that a reality,” he said.

The eastern district of Texas comes under the purview of the fifth US circuit court of appeals, a bastion of conservatism following Trump’s remaking of the federal judiciary during his single term of office.

Republicans seeking to block elements of Biden’s agenda frequently file cases in Texas districts seeking favorable rulings likely to be endorsed by the appeals court, which many observers consider one of the most extreme and influential courts in the US. It has heard cases on abortion, immigration and gun control.

In June, a panel of Republican-appointed judges in the northern district of Texas blocked a move that could have seen dozens of cases transferred out of the circuit court’s jurisdiction, making it harder for the Biden administration to defend lawsuits in the state.