On Thursday, federal judge J. Campbell Barker repealed the โparole in placeโ program implemented by the Biden administration in Texas. This program offered immigrants who had married US citizens and who were undocumented the possibility of obtaining legal immigration status in the United States without having to leave the country, thus guaranteeing family unity.
Last August, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with America First Legal, filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District Court of Texas, promoted by 16 Republican states, against the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), its Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other officials of the Biden administration, requesting an end to the program in question.
In fact, Paxton himself revealed that the claim was intended to overturn the immigration regulation under which undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens could access permanent residency in the United States without having to leave the country, thereby being protected against possible deportations.
In this regard, he noted: "This change would allow certain classifications of illegal immigrants to obtain permanent resident status while remaining in the United States in violation of federal law."
Paxton argued that the legislation was inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution and violated both the Administrative Procedure Act and federal law. He used these arguments to request that the court issue a precautionary measure to suspend the application of the immigration policy while it was thoroughly evaluated in court.
He also stressed: โUnder Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the federal government is actively working to turn the United States into a nation without borders and a country without laws. I will not allow this to happen.โ
The states that supported the lawsuit were Idaho, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming.
In August, Judge J. Campbell Baker decided to interrupt the program to follow up on the legal process initiated with the lawsuit in order to analyze the issues addressed in it regarding the legality of the regulations.
The suspension came a week after the Department of Homeland Security received the first applications from those interested in benefiting from the program.
