A federal judge has struck down the Biden administration’s program known as “Keeping Families Together,” dealing a major blow to DHS’ estimated half a million undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens.
The administration announced the program in June, but a coalition of 16 states led by Republicans — led by Texas and Stephen Miller’s America First Legal — quickly filed suit after the applications became available in August.
A federal judge suspended the program just days after the hopeful applicants filed their paperwork.
The program would have given undocumented spouses and children of U.S. citizens temporary relief from removal “through an existing parole process.” It would allow them to apply for legal status without having to leave the country.
A vehicle drives along the U.S. side of the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Nogales, Arizona, on June 25, 2024.
Jae C. Hong/AP, FILE
On Thursday, Judge J. Campbell Barker ruled in favor of the Republican-led effort to dismantle the program, agreeing with Republican states that the administration overstepped its statutory authority because the Immigration and Nationality Act allows people to be admitted “to the United States” conditionally. “Not to those in the country.
Non-citizen spouses are already eligible for legal status under current laws, but often must apply from their home countries and face a 10-year ban on returning to the US.
In August, ABC News spoke with a 24-year-old woman who was one of the first people to be accepted within the program. She is married to a US citizen and they have a 3 year old child.
It is currently unclear what will happen to people who have already submitted their papers, such as Cecilia, and whether they will be able to get their application fees refunded.
ABC News has reached out to US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the White House for comment.
President Joe Biden leaves the Oval Office to speak about the 2024 election results on November 7, 2024 in the Rose Garden in Washington.
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“When District Court Judge J. Campbell Barker did not dismantle the Keeping Families Together program, it shattered the hopes of hundreds of thousands of American families. The Biden-Harris program would have allowed the spouses and non-citizen children of US citizens to remain in the country in our communities. help, help grow our economy and build lives with their loved ones,” Ashley DeAzevedo, president of American Families United, said in a statement to ABC News.
“We urge the Biden-Harris administration to immediately appeal Judge Barker’s ruling, preventing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and 15 other Republican prosecutors from destroying more than 550,000 people in mixed-status families. Families like ours deserve better than this blatant attempt at a legal program. stop, and we will not stop until the courts correct this injustice,” said DeAzevedo.
