Federal judge pauses Biden policy aimed at helping undocumented spouses of US citizens

A federal judge in Texas has temporarily suspended a government program that would grant legal status without having to first leave the country to spouses of American citizens who arrived illegally and have been living here for more than 10 years.

The judge’s decision is in response to a lawsuit filed by 16 Republican states that have asked to halt a program that would benefit some 500,000 undocumented migrants. Judge J. Campbell Barker said he needs for more information on the case and paused the program for 14 renewable days, giving the parties until October 10 to submit further documentation.

The program, called Parole in Place and announced by President Joe Biden on June 18, could benefit not only spouses but also their children, some 50,000 of whom are under 21 years of age.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton led the lawsuit that brought together 15 other Republican states, alleging that the program is “unconstitutional” because, they argued, it bypassed Congress. “This is just the first step. We are going to keep fighting for Texas, our country, and the rule of law,” Paxton posted on the social media platform X upon learning of the judge’s decision.

The Biden plan is aimed at migrants who entered the country illegally and married an American citizen. To qualify for a green card, applicants must prove that they have been living in the country for more than 10 years uninterruptedly and that they were married before the date of the program announcement. In addition, they cannot pose a security threat or have a criminal record.

Paxton has criticized the program for allegedly having political purposes. He said that the Biden administration is responsible for the arrival of migrants who cross the border illegally and repeated Donald Trump’s claims equating migrants with criminals. The lawsuit was filed against the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, and other senior officials of his department.

Until now, undocumented migrants married to U.S. citizens had to leave the country and wait 10 years to be able to apply for legal status from outside the United States. The prospect of being separated from their families for more than a decade made many of them prefer to stay in the country, even illegally. Parole in Place, which has been Biden’s biggest move to regularize migrants, also opened up a path for them to obtain citizenship and, in the meantime, obtain a work permit.

The program was welcomed by migrant rights organizations but heavily criticized by the Republican Party, which has made immigration a central part of its election campaign. At nearly every rally, Trump rails against what he calls the Biden administration's open borders policy.

However, the tightening of asylum conditions imposed by the president last June meant that illegal arrivals in July were 32% lower than the previous month, to reach 56,408. This is the lowest number of undocumented migrant arrivals in almost four years, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

“Texas should not be able to decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of US citizens and their immigrant spouses without confronting their reality,” Karen Tumlin, the founder and director of Justice Action Center, said during the news conference before the order was issued, AP reported.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition