WASHINGTON — A Texas federal judge tardy Monday sided with 16 Republican-majority states, including Ohio, and temporarily blocked a Biden administration program that provides protection from deportation to undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens and a potential path to citizenship.
Ruling by Judge J. Campbell Barker The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas is administrative staymeaning no applications can be processed while the case is pending. The Department of Homeland Security began accepting applications last week.
“The claims are significant and require more careful consideration than the Court has been able to afford to date,” Barker, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, wrote in his order.
A DHS spokesman said the agency will defend the program, known as Keeping Families Together, in court.
“Keeping Families Together enables U.S. citizens and their family members to live free from fear of separation, consistent with core American values,” a DHS spokesperson said. “The Department of Homeland Security will comply with the court’s decision, including continuing to accept applications while we defend Keeping Families Together in court.”
Under Barker’s order, DHS still has the authority to accept applications for the program but no longer approves them. Applications that have already been considered and granted parole are not covered by the current probation.
States, who filed a lawsuit last weekare Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.
They are represented by American First Legal, an organization founded by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller — the architect of Trump’s uncompromising immigration policies.
The states argue that the Biden administration overstepped its authority in creating the program and that the program would financially harm them if this group of undocumented people — about 500,000 — were allowed to remain in the country.
In his order, Barker set a timetable for the court to issue a decision by mid-October, just before the presidential election. Both sides have until Oct. 10 to file their briefs.
“The court does not express any final conclusions about the success or likely success of these claims,” Barker wrote. “As with most administrative stays, the court simply conducted a review, a ‘first’ review, of the claims and what is at stake in the dispute.”
President Joe Biden the program was presented in Junewhich is a one-time action that applies to long-term undocumented individuals who have been married to U.S. citizens for 10 years as of June 17 of this year. It also applies to their children. It is expected to cover about 50,000 children who are undocumented but have an immigrant parent married to a U.S. citizen.
This program allows undocumented spouses and their children to apply for a green card after meeting certain conditions, which DHS will consider on a case-by-case basis.
Under current U.S. immigration law, if a noncitizen enters the country without permission, they are ineligible for lasting legal status and must leave the U.S. and then re-enter by applying for a green card through their U.S. spouse. It is a lengthy process that can take years.
