Texas Judge Leaves Temporary Block on Biden Legalisation Program for Immigrant Spouses: Key Legal Battle Ahead
Biden legalisation program “Keeping Families Together” program, which allows immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens, has run into significant legal problems. A Texas judge, U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker, has left a temporary block on the program in place at least until September 23, in an apparent attempt to open the door to further legal challenges. It’s another salvo in the legal and political battles over U.S. immigration reform, especially since the issue of immigration has been prime heading into the 2024 elections.
What is the Keeping Families Together Program ?
The Biden administration looks to find a way to provide citizenship for immigrants who came into the country illegally but married U.S. citizens through the Keeping Families Together program. The program would keep roughly 500,000 immigrants from having to leave the country for a number of years while allowing them to adjust their status in-country.
In addition, the program would confer benefits on some 50,000 children under age 21, who would be eligible for a U.S. citizen parent to be paroled, establishing a pathway to possible citizenship.
Legal Challenge from Republican-Led States
Despite the program’s notion to unite families, it saw immediate legal challenges from the get-go. Texas and 15 other Republican-controlled states have filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration on grounds that the program well oversteps his executive powers in serving as a workaround of current immigration law. The suit, joined by America First Legal, argues that the administration does not have the power to grant legal status to immigrants who have entered the country illegally.
This leaves the program in judicial limbo until September 23 by way of Judge Barker’s decision to continue blocking the program. Both sides will, meanwhile, present further arguments on its behalf and maybe schedule a hearing for the fate of the program.
Possible Impact on Immigrant Families
Left to take effect, the Biden program to legalise immigrant spouses would profoundly impact the lives of immigrant families with spouses who have been in the United States for more than a decade without proper authorization. For many immigration spouses, it eliminates the necessity for them to leave the U.S. for years before reapplying for legal status—a process that could separate families for years.
Meanwhile, the program’s future hangs in the balance, with families of immigrants who ought to have benefitted from this action waiting for the courts’ decisions.
Politics and Consequences
The legal challenges to Biden’s Keeping Families Together regime came as immigration has remained one of the top contentious issues in U.S. politics. With November 2024 elections looming, how this current battle sorts out is anything but certain to make a mark on voters in November.
The program was announced by President Biden just before he stepped aside, asking Vice President Kamala Harris to take over his place in the presidential race. A class-action lawsuit filed against the program shows that immigration policy will surely be the divisive issue throughout the election cycle.
Conclusion
A temporary block was imposed by a Texas judge on Biden’s immigration policy, showing the struggle over immigration reform in the U.S. The Keeping Families Together program offers a pathway to US citizenship for tens of thousands of immigrant spouses, although it faces an uphill future because legal challenges drag on. The next couple of weeks may prove crucial in determining the program’s future and how much it might affect immigrant families and the wider debate on immigration.
