Immigration: New Biden rule protects spouses of US citizens
Immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens but are in the country illegally would be protected under the Biden administration’s comprehensive new program.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has joined a Texas-led lawsuit against President Joe Biden’s administration over a program that protects spouses and stepchildren of undocumented American citizens from being forced to leave the country.
The lawsuit challenges the so-called “Parole in Place” program, which is designed to keep families together by allowing non-U.S. citizen spouses and children to apply for permanent residency without having to leave the United States, as has been the case so far.
The Biden administration announced the policy change, officially known as “Keeping Families Together,” on June 18. It was implemented on August 19. The federal lawsuit was filed Friday by 16 states in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
What is a suspended sentence?
The order allows spouses and unmarried stepchildren of U.S. citizens to remain legally in the United States while they await a response to their green card application.
Until now, many noncitizens have had to leave the U.S. when applying for permanent residency. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security described the result as “an extended, potentially indefinite period of separation from their U.S. family members, causing tremendous hardship for everyone involved.” Biden administration officials said “the challenges and uncertainty of this process result in many eligible spouses not applying for permanent residency.”
Now the DHS will examine on a case-by-case basis whether an application for a green card can also remain in the country. The agency estimates that around 500,000 spouses of US citizens without American citizenship and around 50,000 children of these spouses are entitled to a green card.
“These actions will promote family unity and strengthen our economy. They will bring significant benefits to the country and help U.S. citizens and their noncitizen family members stay together,” the White House said in a statement.
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Kansas claims irreparable damage
The lawsuit alleges that Kansas is being “irreparably harmed” by the parole program.
Citing the Migration Policy Institute, the lawsuit points out that an estimated 9,000 non-citizen spouses married to U.S. citizens in Kansas would be eligible for parole.
“Kansas spends significant amounts of money to provide care for paroled and illegal aliens as a result of the federal government’s abuse of federal law,” the lawsuit states. “These services include educational services and emergency care, as well as many other social services. Federal law requires Kansas to enroll paroled and illegal aliens in these programs and requires Kansas to enroll paroled aliens in programs such as S-CHIP, Medicaid, and SNAP.”
While eligibility for the program is limited to individuals who have been continuously resident in the United States for at least 10 years, the lawsuit alleges that existing parole would “encourage increased illegal immigration to Kansas” and place an additional strain on limited public resources.
“The program will result in an increase in crime and drug trafficking in Kansas communities and will require additional spending by Kansas law enforcement,” the lawsuit states. “That is because the program will encourage at least some foreign nationals to come to Kansas. That means more people in Kansas, at least some of whom will engage in illegal activities and who law enforcement will inevitably encounter.”
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Texas and America First Legal file suit
The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is leading the lawsuit.
“Under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the federal government is actively working to transform the United States into a nation without borders and a country without laws. I will not allow that to happen,” Paxton said in a statement. “Biden’s new parole policy unilaterally grants the opportunity for citizenship to unvetted aliens whose first act on American soil was to break our laws. This violates the Constitution and actively exacerbates the disaster of illegal immigration that is harming Texas and our country.”
Also leading the case is the law firm America First Legal, led by Stephen Miller, a former immigration adviser to former President Donald Trump.
“This amnesty gives over a million illegal immigrants legal status, work authorization, and the opportunity to gain voting citizenship,” Miller said in a statement. “It is outrageously unlawful, a deadly accelerant of the devastating invasion at the border, and we will use every legal means to stop it.”
More: Biden’s immigration order draws mixed reactions in Texas. Here’s what lawmakers are saying.
Jason Alatidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.
