A federal judge in Texas on Monday suspended a Biden administration policy that would grant legal status to spouses of U.S. citizens without them having to leave the country, dealing at least a temporary setback to one of the president’s biggest steps in years to ease the path to citizenship.
The administrative injunction, issued by U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker, came just days after 16 states, led by Republican attorneys general, challenged the program that could benefit an estimated 500,000 migrant people in the country and about 50,000 of their children.
One of the states leading the lawsuit is Texas, which argues that immigrants without legal status force it to pay tens of millions of dollars a year from health care costs to law enforcement.
President Joe Biden announced the program in June. The court order, which is in effect for two weeks but can be extended, came a week after the Department of Homeland Security began accepting applications.
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“The allegations are serious and require more thorough consideration than this court has previously been able to give,” Barker wrote.
The judge set a timeline that could see a ruling coming just before the Nov. 5 presidential election or before the new president takes office in January. Judge Barker ordered both sides to file briefs in the case by Oct. 10.
The policy offers spouses of U.S. citizens without legal status who meet certain criteria a path to citizenship by applying for a green card and remaining in the U.S. while the process is in progress — a process that traditionally could involve waiting years outside the U.S., causing what advocates call “family separation.”
FILE – President Joe Biden speaks during an event with the National Governors Association in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the order.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, welcomed the order.
“This is just a first step. We will keep fighting for Texas, our country and the rule of law,” Paxton wrote in a post on the social media platform X.
Lawyers representing eligible families who filed motions to intervene early Monday said several families had been notified that their applications had been accepted.
“The state of Texas should not decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens and their immigrant spouses without facing their realities,” Karen Tumlin, founder and director of the Justice Action Center, said at a press conference before the order was issued.
A coalition of states accused the administration of bypassing Congress for “clear political purposes.”
The program has been particularly controversial in an election year in which immigration has become one of the biggest issues at stake, with many Republicans criticizing the policy and arguing that it is essentially a form of amnesty for people who have broken the law.
To be eligible for the program, immigrants must have continuously resided in the U.S. for at least 10 years, pose no security threat, have no disqualifying criminal convictions, and be married to a U.S. citizen by June 17, the day before the program was announced.
To apply, people must pay a $580 fee and fill out a lengthy application that includes explaining why they are eligible for humanitarian parole and a long list of documents to prove their length of stay.
If approved, applicants have three years to apply for permanent residence, during which time they may be permitted to work.
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Before the program, people who were in the U.S. illegally had a hard time getting a green card after marrying a U.S. citizen — they were sometimes required to return to their home countries, a process that often took years, and always faced the risk of being denied re-entry.
