Client Alert!
On August 23, Sixteen Republican-led states, led by Texas and America First Legal, filed a complaint to block DHS’s Keeping Families Together parole-in-place program which was announced in June 2024 and implemented on August 19, 2024. The rule allows for humanitarian parole and a path to permanent residency for certain immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens without them having to leave the country.
The states in the lawsuit are Texas, Idaho, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming. They argue that only congress has the authority to enact legislation that would authorize a program like this.
On August 26, a group of undocumented immigrants and their families filed a Proposed Intervenors’ Motion to Intervene as Defendants and Incorporated Memorandum of Law, seeking to intervene in federal court to join the government in defending the Keeping Families Together program.
Judge Barker of the E.D. Texas issued an administrative stay of the Keeping Families Together Parole-in-Place Program for a period of at least 14 days. During this time, applicants may still submit Keeping Families Together parole applications to USCIS, but USCIS may not grant parole in place. The administrative stay could be extended for good cause or if all adverse parties agree to an extension. The court notes that given the discovery schedule it “expects that good cause may exist to extend this administrative stay for additional periods through mid-October.”
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