A federal district court has temporarily paused a Biden administration program that allows immigrant family members of US citizens to seek removal protections and work permits without leaving the country.
Republican states sued to block the “parole in place” program on Aug. 23, arguing it violated the Administrative Procedure Act and exceeded the authority of the Department of Homeland Security.
About half a million immigrant spouses and another 50,000 stepchildren of US citizens were expected to qualify. The administrative stay applies only to grants of parole and does not block DHS from continuing to accept applications.
Judge J. Campbell Barker of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted an administrative stay for 14 days, but didn’t express any conclusions about the likely success of claims of states challenging the program.
“As with most administrative stays, the court has simply undertaken a screening, ‘first-blush’ review of the claims and what is at stake in the dispute,” wrote Barker, a Trump appointee.
The case is Texas v. DHS, E.D. Tex., No. 6:24-cv-00306, administrative stay issued 8/26/24.
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