Judge: Mixed status couples can't take part in case against Keeping Families Together program

Mixed immigration status couples hoping to argue the merits of the Biden administration’s Keeping Families Together program in court are not able to do so. That's after the federal judge overseeing the case against the program denied their request to intervene.

Keeping Families Together went into effect last month and would offer a path to legal residency to an estimated 500,000 undocumented people who’ve been in the U.S. for at least a decade and are married to U.S. citizens.

The program is on hold for now after District Judge J. Campbell Barker sided with Texas and other states suing to stop it. Applications like the one from DACA recipient Rico Ocampo Hernandez are frozen while the case progresses.

“For years we’ve been caught in the cycle of legal challenges and financial strain, trying to navigate an immigration system that oftentimes seems to be designed to keep families like mine in limbo,” he told reporters on an Aug. 26th call.

Hernandez and his wife, who is a U.S. citizen, were some of almost a dozen people who hoped to intervene in the case. Attorney Harold Solis, co-legal director with Make the Road New York, told reporters last week he and other attorneys filed a motion to intervene in the case on behalf of the couples.

“Imagine building a life in America for a decade or more, raising your children here, building a family here, contributing to your community, and yet living under the constant threat of separation from your loved ones,” he said.

Barker denied that request late Tuesday, arguing the couples’ interests were already represented by Justice Department lawyers. Solis and other attorneys say they plan to appeal the decision.

Late Wednesday, the judge also denied a request filed by the Justice Department to lift the hold on the program and instead extended it for another 14 days.