A Biden administration order that would have given a pathway for spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to remain in the nation legally has been rejected by a federal judge.
The ruling on Thursday comes after a group of Republican state attorneys general filed a suit in August against the Biden administration's "parole in place" policy, arguing that the president overstepped his authority by giving such amnesty. Judge J. Campbell Barker, an appointee of then-President Donald Trump, agreed with the attorneys general.
An estimated 550,000 immigrants illegally in the U.S. were eligible for the program.
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Currently, spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens who are not in the country legally are required to leave the U.S. before applying for legal status. Had the Biden administration proposal been allowed to move forward, an estimated 500,000 spouses of U.S. citizens and 50,000 stepchildren would have been given three years of legal status.
During that time, spouses and stepchildren could continue living in the U.S. while making their case for permanent resident status.
The rule would have allowed spouses of citizens to apply only if they had been in the U.S. for longer than a decade, and did not have a disqualifying criminal history.
The White House implemented the program on Aug. 19, but a court temporarily halted it a week later. It is unclear if the administration approved any applications before the program was halted.
“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris created a crisis at the southern border, leaving the American people to pay the consequences. In the wake of the federal government’s refusal to act, states like Missouri had no choice but to step in and take action to secure our southern border,” said Missouri Attorney General Bailey. “We filed suit to ensure millions of unvetted individuals are not invading our communities.”
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On average, spouses who would have been eligible for the program have resided in the United States for 23 years, White House officials said.
The Biden administration said its preference has been to go through Congress to fix a "broken" immigration system. When it first introduced the proposal, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the proposal did not hamper efforts to fight illegal immigration at the border.
With President-elect Donald Trump taking office in January, the parole-in-place program is likely to die before getting appealed.
