In June 2024, the Biden Administration announced its plan to roll out a transformative process called Keeping Families Together (KFT) parole. After the program went live and started receiving applications on August 19th, that same week, Texas and 15 additional states filed a lawsuit and, in addition, a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) asking the court to immediately block the process.
Eleven individuals, in addition to the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), filed a motion to intervene, asking the court to be a party to the lawsuit so that their interests and perspectives are considered by the court rather than just those of the federal government. The KFT process offers mixed status families the chance to be free from the constant anxiety of being torn apart and ensuring that they would otherwise not have to face uncertainty and danger, in addition to family separation, of returning to their countries of origin. There are several requirements to apply for the KFT process, including that undocumented spouses have been in the U.S. for at least 10 years and married for at least one year since the program was announced on June 17.
Justice Action Center and Make The Road New York are representing the individual and organizational clients in this case. We believe that their stories deserve to be considered as a judge determines not only the fate of this process but also the futures of thousands of mixed-status families.
Three days after Texas filed the TRO, Texas District Court’s Judge Barker granted an administrative stay blocking grants of KFT parole. And on September 3rd, the court denied our motion to intervene. We appealed to the 5th Circuit, and on September 11th, the 5th Circuit paused the Texas District Court’s proceedings, set a hearing for October 10th on our motion to intervene, but also extended the admin stay. To challenge the extension of this stay, we filed a motion to vacate on September 20th.
Late into the night on October 4th, the Fifth Circuit issued an unpublished opinion affirming Judge Barker’s denial of the motion to intervene, canceled the October 10th oral argument on that appeal, and vacated its stay of the district court proceedings and its extension of Judge Barker’s “administrative stay.” However, that glimmer of hope in lifting the ‘stay’ was short-lived: just an hour and a half later, the district court’s Judge Barker issued another stay to remain in effect at least through November 5th—Election Day—when he ordered a bench trial. In effect, this means that the courts will have unlawfully blocked the Keeping Families Together process for months without providing the necessary legal rationale and refusing to hear from the families who are directly impacted by their legal moves.
If you’re part of a mixed-status family that is eligible for KFT parole and want to share your story publicly, please email stories@justiceactioncenter.org with the subject line “KFT Storytelling” and we’ll follow up.
Press Releases:
- 10/29/24 | Mixed Status Families Urge Texas District Court to Consider Benefits of President Biden’s Keeping Families Together Process
- 10/24/24 | Mixed Status Families Ask Supreme Court to Lift Freeze on President Biden’s Keeping Families Together Process
- 10/7/24 | Justice Action Center and Make the Road New York Respond to Twin Court Orders Issued Friday Night in the Case Challenging Keeping Families Together Parole
- 9/20/24 | Mixed-Status Families File Motion to Vacate Administrative Stay on “Keeping Families Together” Parole
- 9/11/24 | Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Pauses District Court Proceedings on Case Threatening “Keeping Families Together” Parole Process
- 9/3/24 | Texas District Court Denies Mixed-Status Families’ Motion to Intervene in Federal Lawsuit That Threatens “Keeping Families Together” Parole Process
- 8/26/24 | Texas District Court Grants Administrative Stay for the Keeping Families Together Parole Process
- 8/26/24 | Attorneys and Mixed-Status Families File Motion to Intervene in Federal Lawsuit That Threatens “Keeping Families Together” Parole Process
- 8/19/24 | “Keeping Families Together” Parole in Place Opens, Finally Offering Mixed Status Families a Chance at Relief
News Coverage:
- 8/26/24 | NBC News | Immigrant families file motion to defend Biden program as Republican states sue
- 8/26/24 | NBC News| Judge blocks Biden program providing pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens
- 8/26/24 | Axios | Immigrant rights groups seek to defend Biden program in court
- 8/26/24 | Axios | Judge puts Biden immigration program on hold after lawsuit from 16 states
- 8/26/24 |The New York Times | Judge Pauses Biden Administration Program That Aids Undocumented Spouses
- 8/26/24 | MSNBC | ‘I’m not going to be afraid anymore’: How Biden’s plan for undocumented immigrants will change lives
- 8/26/24 | Univision | Juez federal pausa el programa ‘parole in place’ de Biden que ofrecía estatus legal a indocumentados que fueran parejas de ciudadanos de EEUU
- 8/27/24 | Associated Press | Judge in Texas orders pause on Biden program that offers legal status to spouses of US citizens
- 8/27/24 | Border Report |Immigrant families agonize as judge temporarily halts ‘Parole in Place’ program
- 8/27/24 | The Guardian |Judge blocks ‘parole in place’ program for immigrant spouses of US citizens
- 8/27/24 | The Washington Post | Judge halts Biden program offering legal status to undocumented spouses