In a significant development, a Texas federal judge has struck down the Harris-Biden administration’s plan to fast-track permanent residency for illegal migrants married to American citizens. The ruling by US District Judge J. Campbell Barker comes after he previously issued an order temporarily halting the administration’s “Parole in Place” program. This program aimed to provide work authorization, permanent residency, and eventual citizenship to spouses and stepchildren of US citizens who have been in the country for at least 10 years. Barker found that the program exceeded statutory authority and was not in accordance with the law, stating that it focused on the benefits of aliens’ new legal status rather than their presence in the country.
The judge, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, emphasized that the defendants’ view stretched legal interpretation past its breaking point. The ruling followed a lawsuit filed by 16 Republican-led states in August, arguing that the program incentivized illegal immigration and would harm the states irreparably. The lawsuit also contended that the Biden-Harris administration had attempted to create its immigration system for political purposes, dissatisfied with the system Congress had established. President Biden initially announced the Parole in Place program in June as part of his executive actions on immigration following a surge of migrants illegally entering the country during his first term. The program was expected to benefit about 500,000 spouses of US citizens and 50,000 non-citizen children but has now been deemed illegal.
Without the Parole in Place program, non-citizen spouses will likely have to wait outside of the US for several years before qualifying for the same benefits. Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, had described Biden’s plan as providing amnesty to hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens. Gene Hamilton, Executive Director of America First Legal, who represented the coalition of states in their lawsuit, praised the attorneys general for standing up against the Harris-Biden administration’s actions. Hamilton criticized the administration for allegedly contributing to the decimation of the immigration system and erasure of borders since taking office. He commended the State of Texas and Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with other attorneys general, for stopping an illegal program that would have granted amnesty to hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens and paved the way for the largest administrative amnesty in American history.
