Texas-based District Court Judge John Campbell Barker temporarily blocked the ability of the Biden Administration to give unauthorized or undocumented immigrants legal immigration status if they have married American citizens, effectively ending a program the Biden Administration began Aug. 20.
According to CBS News, Barker’s Aug. 26 injunction is only for two weeks, but he suggested it could be extended if necessary. The Biden Administration’s program, known as Keeping Families Together, was intended to address the plight of undocumented immigrants who have been in legal limbo while living in the United States for years.
The State of Texas, along with 15 other Republican-controlled states, argued in a lawsuit calling for an injunction that the program’s policy constituted a misuse of immigration parole authority. Barker, a Trump appointee, appeared to agree with their argument through his order.
Judge J. Campbell Barker, sitting in Tyler, TX, paused the program allowing undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens to remain in the U.S. while seeking citizenship instead of having to go back to their home country—possibly for years. To qualify for the program, spouses must have… pic.twitter.com/gdSdmRpoqH— Jim Boyle (@JimGBoyle) August 27, 2024
BREAKING: Federal judge J. Campbell Barker temporarily blocks federal officials from granting legal status to undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens under a new Biden administration program, granting a request from 16 Republican-led states.Follow @CBSNews for more. pic.twitter.com/pUH0G3CxQt— Camilo Montoya-Galvez (@camiloreports) August 26, 2024
“The claims are substantial and warrant closer consideration than the court has been able to afford to date,” Barker wrote in his court order.
According to The New York Times, Barker’s order came despite advocacy groups requesting that testimony from couples who would be harmed by ending the program be allowed earlier, on Aug. 26.
Karen Tumlin, the director of the Justice Action Center, one of the groups that filed the request, told The New York Times that the order is an extreme measure.
“An order like this is an extreme measure that — by law — should only be taken in the most urgent of situations. This is heartbreaking for our clients and the thousands of couples who hope to benefit from this process and be able to live without fear that their family will be separated.”
According to Rebecca Shi, the executive director of the American Business Immigration Coalition, “It is bad for the economy and against human decency to prevent people who have been here working and paying taxes, often for more than 20 years, and married to U.S. citizens, from obtaining legal status more quickly.”
Ricardo Ocampo Hernandez, who applied to the program after it was first unveiled, told the outlet that he was hopeful that the program would help him and other immigrants navigate a system he believes is designed to keep immigrants in a holding pattern without true citizenship.
“For years, we’ve been caught in a cycle of legal challenges and financial strain, trying to navigate an immigration system that often seems designed to keep families like mine in limbo,” Hernandez said. “But with this new process, there is finally a path. When I filed my application, I felt both relief and anxiety after years of struggle.”
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