A federal judge in Texas on Monday ordered a temporary suspension of a new Biden administration policy that would make it easier for spouses and children of undocumented Americans to obtain legal status.
U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker An administrative suspension order was issued. The administration rolled back the program, known as “Keeping Families Together,” just days after Texas and 15 other Republican-led states sued the Biden administration over the policy.
“The allegations are serious and require much more thorough consideration than the Court has so far given them,” Barker wrote in his order.
Barker noted that the order does not represent a “final conclusion as to whether the plaintiffs' claims are likely to succeed or succeed,” but rather is a consideration of their “first impressions” after a preliminary examination.
The Department of Homeland Security last week began accepting applications for new rules that would allow spouses and children of U.S. citizens who do not have lawful immigration status to apply for a change of status without having to leave the country.
The lawsuit, filed last Friday in collaboration with America First Legal, a former aide to former President Trump, Stephen Miller, argues that the new rules violate the Administrative Procedure Act, which provides the basis for immigration authorities and federal rulemaking.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican who led the lawsuit, praised the order, calling it “just a first step.”
“Biden's unconstitutional plan would give more than one million illegal immigrants who have broken our nation's laws a path to citizenship and encourage countless more illegal immigrants,” he said. Written XMonday.
Paxton's assertion that people who receive a change of status aren't vetted is false, because applying for a change of immigration status initiates such a process. The rules require applicants to provide biometric information and “subject to required background investigations and national security and public safety screenings.”
Applicants should also be aware that they “may not have any criminal or other disqualifying records.” [may] do not have [be] “It is deemed a threat to public safety, national security, or border security.”
The order will be in effect for two weeks but could be extended. Baker, who was appointed by Trump to his Tyler, Texas, seat in 2019, suggested a ruling could be issued just before the Nov. 5 presidential election or early next year before the new president is inaugurated, The Associated Press reported.
Both parties were ordered to file briefs in the case by October 10.
When announcing the plan, the Biden administration touted the rule as “bringing relief and stability to Americans living in mixed-status families” and “enabling more young people to contribute to the economy.”
The Hill has reached out to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
The Biden administration criticized the lawsuit last week, calling it a cruel act that punishes families.
“Republican elected officials continue to demonstrate that they are more focused on political gamesmanship than helping American families and fixing our broken immigration system,” White House spokesman Angelo Fernandez Hernandez said in a statement last week.
Rebecca Baitsch contributed reporting.
