Fifth Circuit Unfreezes Immigrant Parole Court Battle (1)

A court battle can move forward in determining the fate of a Biden administration program offering immigrant spouses temporary status and the ability to work in the US while seeking permanent residency, an appeals court panel said.

But an attempt by mixed status families to intervene in litigation over the Keeping Families Together program was denied by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in an unsigned Oct. 4 order.

The appeals court in September indefinitely extended a district court’s administrative stay on proceedings over the program as they considered the intervention request. The families, whose members stood to benefit from the program, appealed when a motion to intervene was denied by District Court Judge J. Campbell Barker.

The Keeping Families Together program at the center of the legal fight would allow more than half a million unauthorized spouses and stepchildren of US citizens to remain in the US and obtain work permits while applying for green cards. Those individuals would otherwise be required to leave the country before seeking permanent status, exposing them to years-long bans on readmission because of previous unlawful presence in the US.

Republican-led states sued to block the program, arguing that the Department of Homeland Security had exceeded its authority and that they would suffer financial harm from increased public spending. Barker issued a temporary stay on the program but set an expedited briefing schedule to resolve a dispute over the states’ standing to sue.

The Fifth Circuit vacated the September order although the district court subsequently extended its administrative stay until Nov. 8. Although it denied the families’ attempt to join the lawsuit as intervenors, the panel said Barker still had the option of allowing the mixed status families to participate in the case by filing an amicus brief.

Courts are required to “show their homework” in issuing judicial decisions that have a nationwide impact by blocking federal programs, but no court has done that in this litigation, said Karen Tumlin, founder and director of Justice Action Center, which is representing the intervenors, in a statement.

“This means that the courts have blocked the Keeping Families Together process for months without providing the necessary legal rationale and refusing to hear from the communities who are directly impacted by these legal moves,” Tumlin said.

Make the Road New York is also counsel for the intervenors.

The case is Texas v. DHS, 5th Cir., No. 24-40571, order issued 10/4/24.