The Keeping Families Together program — which allows undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens to apply for citizenship — has been permanently halted. That’s after a district court in Texas ruled against it.
The program uses parole in place to allow undocumented spouses to apply for permanent residency without having to leave the country and face potentially years-long bars on re-entry.
Applicants were required to have been in the U.S. for at least a decade and have no criminal record. Roughly 500,000 people were likely eligible.
District Court Judge J. Campbell Barker issued his ruling just days after a hearing on Election Day, saying the program’s use of parole in place was illegal. It’s permanently shuttered now, but applications had been on hold for months since Texas and other states first filed suit. The Biden administration has not yet said whether it’ll appeal the order.
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As the New York Times reports, more than 100 of the roughly 750 immigration judges have been dismissed. About 140 permanent and temporary judges have been appointed in the wake of those firings — including former DHS prosecutors. -
DHS is now planning something more modest, starting out with 250 people per week and capping occupied beds at 542, according to Surprise Mayor Kevin Sartor. -
A spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona, said that Kelly had called DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin regarding Annie Ramos’ detention. Her husband has family in Arizona. -
GOP lawmakers are asking the attorney general to punish Pima County over a resolution banning ICE activity on county property without judicial warrants. -
Last summer, the Trump administration designated more than a third of Arizona’s roughly 370-mile-long border with Mexico a military zone.
