Opponents want to end a federal program that could offer nearly half a million immigrants without legal status who are married to U.S. citizens a path to citizenship.
Sixteen Republican-led states filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to halt the program launched by President Joe Biden in June, alleging in court documents that the Biden administration bypassed Congress to create a path to citizenship for “clearly political purposes.”
Under the policy that began Accepting job applications on Mondaymany spouses without legal status can apply for something that “conditional release is appropriate,” granting permission to remain in the US, apply for a green card, and ultimately pursue the path to citizenship.
But the program is especially controversial in an election year when immigration is a major issue. Many Republicans oppose the policy, arguing that it is effectively a form of amnesty for people who have broken the law.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement Friday that the plan “unconstitutional and actively exacerbates the illegal immigration disaster plaguing Texas and our country.”
The lawsuit, filed against the Department of Homeland Security, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other Biden administration officials, accuses the agency of attempting to release spouses “en masse,” which the states say is an abuse of power.
The Department of Homeland Security and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
The bipartisan organization for immigration and criminal justice FWD.us noted that the lawsuit was filed on the night Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for president, and said the program complies with the law,
“The sole motivation behind this lawsuit is the cruelty of tearing families apart and the crude politics of hoping a judge will do the will of the anti-immigration movement,” the organization said in a statement.
To qualify for the program, immigrants must have lived in the U.S. continuously for at least 10 years, not pose a security risk or have a disqualifying criminal history, and be married to a citizen by June 17 (the day before the program was announced).
They must pay a $580 fee to apply and complete a lengthy application form, which includes an explanation of why they are eligible for humanitarian release and a lengthy list of supporting documents showing how long they have been in the country.
They apply to the Department of Homeland Security and if they are approved, they have three years to apply for permanent residence permit. During that period, they can get a work permit. The government estimates that about 500,000 people may qualify, plus about 50,000 of their children.
Before this program, it was complicated for people in the U.S. illegally to get a green card after marrying a U.S. citizen. They could be forced to return to their home country — often for years — and they always ran the risk of not being allowed back.