Texas and Other States File Lawsuit Challenging Keeping Families Together Program
Practice Alert
As of August 26, 2024, at 8:00 pm (ET), due to a court order currently in effect, USCIS may accept Keeping Families Together parole applications but may not approve them. AILA will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates regarding the program's status. Members should look for updates on our Featured Issues page and the USCIS website:
https://www.uscis.gov/keepingfamiliestogether
Many applicants may receive biometrics appointment notices today, as USCIS usually batch schedules on Fridays. As a reminder, you may be able to reschedule your appointment online to an earlier or later date depending on availability. For more information, visit https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-1-part-c-chapter-2
August 26, 2024, 8:00 pm (ET)
On August 26, 2024, Judge Barker of the E.D. Texas issued an administrative stay of the Keeping Families Together Parole-in-Place Program for a period of at least 14 days. During this time, applicants may still submit Keeping Families Together parole applications to USCIS, but USCIS may not grant parole in place. The administrative stay could be extended for good cause or if all adverse parties agree to an extension. The court notes that given the discovery schedule it “expects that good cause may exist to extend this administrative stay for additional periods through mid-October.”
The order also sets forth a schedule for briefing on the Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order, Preliminary Injunction, and Summary Judgment with all briefing due by October 10, 2024. An expedited hearing an expedited hearing on preliminary relief and summary judgment, and if necessary a consolidated bench trial, on a date as soon as possible after completion of that briefing.
AILA will provide updates on this featured issues page as they become available.
August 26, 2024
A group of undocumented immigrants and their families filed a Proposed Intervenors’ Motion to Intervene as Defendants and Incorporated Memorandum of Law, seeking to intervene in federal court to join the government in defending the Keeping Families Together program.
The group included six undocumented immigrants who stand to benefit from parole in place, alongside their U.S. citizen spouses. They are joined in their motion by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit.
August 23, 2024
Sixteen Republican-led states, led by Texas and America First Legal (Stephen Miller, president of America First Legal), filed a complaint to block DHS’s Keeping Families Together parole-in-place program which was announced in June 2024 and implemented on August 19, 2024. The rule allows for humanitarian parole and a path to permanent residency for certain immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens without them having to leave the country.
The states in the lawsuit are Texas, Idaho, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming.
As of August 23, 2024, the plaintiffs have filed a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, Preliminary Injunction, and Stay of Agency Action.
In response, DHS filed a Motion for Expedited Jurisdictional Discovery, Stay of Briefing, and Schedule Proposal, requesting that the court enter an order permitting the parties 60 days to conduct discovery limited to ascertaining subject matter jurisdiction, specifically Plaintiffs’ standing, and for the court to stay Defendants’ response to the motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.
USCIS continues to accept applications at this time, although this could change in the near future if the plaintiff's motion is granted.