McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Migrant advocacy groups and families filed court motions and spoke out Tuesday after a judge temporarily halted a new federal program that would allow the undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to apply for permanent residence without leaving the country.
A judge late Monday put a 14-day pause on the Keeping Families Together program, also known as Parole in Place, after 16 states, led by Texas, filed court documents last week trying to get the program stopped. The states challenged the program saying it incentivizes “illegal immigration.”
Applications for the program opened on Aug. 19 but the judge’s ruling forbids U.S. Customs and Immigration Services from issuing any parole grants at least through Sept. 10.
“I could lose the life-changing opportunity to adjust my status right here in the United States. Litigation to stop the program could separate me from my loved ones,” Foday Turay, an undocumented immigrant said in a video released Tuesday by Fwd.us, which the group also posted on X.
Turay is among 11 individuals who filed a motion on Monday to be listed as intervenors on behalf of the defendants in the multi-state lawsuit that is led by Texas against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The motion states they wish to give their perspective about the program.
Turay and the others, as well as the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights “seek to intervene in this litigation as beneficiaries of the ‘Keeping Families Together’ Parole process,” according to the court documents filed in federal court in Tyler, Texas.
“I’ve been contributing to my community as a DACA recipient for over a decade. I should not have to live in constant fear of being separated from my wife and my son, both of whom are U.S. citizens,” Turay said.
Ricardo Ocampo Hernandez lives in Las Vegas with his American wife and two sons. He was brought to the United States at age 2 and is part of the group of 11 who have asked the court to let them intervene in the case.
“Despite our deep roots here in the U.S., our lives have been filled with uncertainly because of my immigration status. For years we’ve struggled, living in fear that we could be separated fighting to keep our family together,” Ocampo said Monday during a Zoom call with media outlets hosted by several migrant groups, including the Justice Action Center, which filed the intervenor motion.
“The Keeping Families Together parole process offers a beacon for us, for myself, for my family and so many more,” Ocampo said. “For years we’ve been caught in a cycle of legal challenges and financial strain trying to navigate an immigration system that oftentimes seems designed to keep families like mine in limbo but with this new process there is finally a path that doesn’t involve risking years of separation from my loved ones.”
Oscar Martin Silva Perez is also part of the motion to intervene group. He lives with his wife, Natalie, in Denton, Texas. “We want to fight for our dreams. Dreams for our life as a couple we’ve had since we were teenagers,” Silva said on the Zoom call.
Silva filed his application on Aug. 19 along with $580 application fee. He said it took him two months to gather the information and documents. He says he wants legal parole and work authorization and to eventually support his family as a CPA.
“Learning about Texas’ lawsuit felt like a punch in the gut and once again my home state is using taxpayer resources from preventing the government from recognizing what married couples like Natalie and me already know: That we belong together. That’s why I’m proud to participate in this intervention. A court should not be able to decide upon my fate and upon the fate of thousands like me without taking our stories into account,” Silva said.
“Texas has a troubling habit of claiming harm in any immigrant-inclusive measure with which they disagree, even if the facts show the opposite is true and the process would bring countless benefits to the state and its residents,” said Karen Tumlin, founder and director of Justice Action Center. “Texas should not be able to decide the fates of hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens and their immigrant spouses without confronting their reality.”
“Keeping Families Together is a life-changing opportunity for a slice of our community, and we’re proud to fight back against the immoral courtroom attack against it,” said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA). “We see the decision by the state of Texas to try to stop this process via litigation as lacking in humanity and attacking our American values that protect families. These families include U.S. citizen children who also deserve a process that allows them to safeguard the certainty that their fathers and mothers will be there to take care of them.”
“Blocking common-sense, popular policies that keep families together and help grow the economy do not move the country forward. Paxton’s effort to stop this program is bad for families, bad for the economy, and bad politics,” said Rebecca Shi, executive director of the American Business Immigration Coalition Action.
ABIC Action represents over 1,400 CEOs and employers nationwide that support the program, Shi said.
“We believe the courts will uphold this executive action, which is meant to help the spouses of U.S. citizens who’ve lived in the country for decades paying taxes, contributing to their communities, and raising their families without criminal history,” Shi said.
American Families United reports 1.1 million U.S. citizens are married to undocumented spouses nationwide, and that includes over 155,000 U.S. citizens living with immigrant spouses in mixed-status families in Texas.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday praised the judge’s administrative ruling on Monday, which found “substantial” evidence that DHS may be violating federal laws via the program, Paxton said.
“We have temporarily blocked Biden’s unlawful new ‘parole in place’ program, which would have rewarded over 1 million illegal aliens with the opportunity for citizenship after breaking our country’s laws — and incentivized countless more,” Paxton said. “This is just the first step. We are going to keep fighting for Texas, our country, and the rule of law.”
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.