BREAKING NEWS: Federal Judge Ends Biden’s Keeping Families Together Parole Program, Causing Devastating Consequences for Undocumented Spouses of U.S. Citizens

In the last few days, the immigration world has been reeling from the results of the Presidential election. People across the nation are preparing for an incoming Trump administration that promises to be extremely tough on immigration.

While the future of many hangs in the balance, the federal courts have started taking action to undo the immigration policies of the Biden administration.

Just two days after Americans cast their ballots and elected Donald Trump to become the next President of the United States, federal Judge J. Campbell Barker of the Eastern District Court of Texas issued a court order in the case Texas et. al. vs. DHS et. al., Case No. 6:24-cv-00306 (E.D. Tex.), ending President Biden’s Keeping Families Together parole program.

In a short one-page ruling, the judge declared that the Biden administration lacked the authority to grant parole in place to undocumented aliens, and therefore set aside and vacated Biden’s Keeping Families Together program.

In doing so, judge Barker delivered the first major blow to Biden’s immigration friendly policies. This decision stops the government from accepting applications for parole in place under the program, which would have allowed undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. Citizens to remain together during the immigration process.

Perhaps the most devastating aspect of this decision is that thousands of undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. Citizens had already applied for parole in place under the Keeping Families Together program. Applications for the program began to be accepted by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on August 19, 2024.

By August 23^rd Texas along with fifteen Republican states filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block the program from taking effect. While applications were still being accepted by USCIS, the court prevented USCIS from approving applications while litigation was pending. Now the program is no more.

Keeping Families Together offered a beacon of hope for undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. Citizens to legalize their status without departing the United States. The program offered them protections to remain in the United States while applying for lawful permanent residency.

Many spared significant time and expense to pay costly attorney’s fees and filing fees for parole in place. The fee to apply for parole in place was $580 and the government offered no fee waivers or fee exemptions. Now families have been forced to forfeit these fees and remain in legal limbo. Many will have to weigh their options, including whether to move forward with the lengthy and complicated extreme hardship waiver process, while others may explore other options to apply for permanent residency from inside the United States.

A Nonsense Ruling

Republican antagonism towards the Keeping Families Together program makes little sense, considering that under the law, undocumented spouses of U.S. Citizens are already eligible to apply for permanent residency. Biden’s parole program simply streamlined the process by eliminating the need for applicants to apply for an extreme hardship “waiver” with USCIS and having to leave the United States to apply for an immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate abroad.

Sadly, the political climate has made it impossible to have meaningful discourse to improve our immigration system. American families are paying the ultimate price. It was estimated that 500,000 undocumented spouses would have been eligible, along with 50,000 of their children.

It remains unclear whether the Biden administration will appeal the judge’s ruling. White House spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández told reporters, “We strongly disagree with yesterday’s ruling, and we are evaluating next steps. This ruling sides with Republican state officials who are seeking to force U.S. citizens and their families, people who have lived in the United States for more than ten years, to either separate or live in the shadows in constant fear of deportation. As the President has said, America is not a country that tears families apart. Our Administration believes in keeping American families together – this process would allow those who are already eligible for lawful permanent residency to remain in the United States with their families during that process, instead of being needlessly torn apart.”

If you applied for parole under Keeping Families Together, we urge you to contact your immigration attorney or case manager to explore other options to legalize your status. It is our honor to serve you during these uncertain times. Our office remains committed to finding alternative paths for you to remain with your families in the United States.

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