Texas, along with a coalition of Republican-led states, filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday, challenging a new immigration program that offers a path to citizenship for immigrants who entered the US illegally and are now married to US citizens.
The lawsuit argues that the program, which began accepting applications this week, exceeds the administration’s authority and undermines US immigration laws. The initiative, known as Keeping Families Together, aims to provide citizenship opportunities to approximately 500,000 immigrant spouses who have been in the US illegally for at least 10 years. Many of these individuals would otherwise need to leave the country for years before being eligible to return legally.
Republicans have made illegal immigration a central issue in the upcoming November 5 presidential election, where former President Donald Trump, a Republican, is set to face Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
America First Legal, an organization led by Trump adviser Stephen Miller, is co-counsel in the lawsuit alongside Texas and 15 other states with Republican attorneys general. Miller, who was influential in crafting Trump’s restrictive immigration policies, labeled the Biden program as “brazenly unlawful.”
The Keeping Families Together program also extends temporary “parole” status to about 50,000 children under 21 with a US-citizen parent, creating a pathway to citizenship.
White House spokesperson Angelo Fernandez Hernandez criticized the lawsuit, arguing that it aims to separate families and contradicts the nation’s values. Texas has had multiple legal confrontations with the Biden administration over immigration and border issues.
In July, a federal appeals court allowed Texas to maintain a large floating barrier in the Rio Grande River designed to deter illegal crossings from Mexico.
