Texas and 15 other GOP-led states sued the Biden administration Friday over a new policy making it easier for Americans’ spouses and children who lack necessary documentation to gain legal status.
Known as “Keeping Families Together,” the program allows spouses and children of U.S. citizens without legal status to seek to adjust their status without first leaving the country — a process that has left many without documents hesitant to do so.
The lawsuit, brought in coordination with former President Trump’s ex-aide Stephen Miller’s America First Legal, claims the new rule violates immigration authorities as well as the Administrative Procedures Act, which lays the groundwork for federal rulemaking.
“Biden’s new parole workaround unilaterally grants the opportunity for citizenship to unvetted aliens whose first act on American soil was to break our laws,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) said in a statement, adding the program “actively worsens the illegal immigration disaster that is hurting Texas and our country.”
Paxton’s claim that those who receive the status change are unvetted is false, as applying to shift one’s immigration status kicks off such a process. The rule notes that applicants must submit biometrics and “undergo required background checks and national security and public safety vetting.”
Applicants also must not have any “disqualifying criminal history and otherwise [may] not [be] deemed to be a threat to public safety, national security, or border security.”
The Biden administration was highly critical of the lawsuit, pegging it as a cruel effort to penalize families.
“Republican elected officials continue to demonstrate that they are more focused on playing politics than helping American families or fixing our broken immigration system,” White House spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández said in a statement.
“This lawsuit is seeking to force U.S. citizens and their families, people who have lived in the United States for more than ten years, to continue to live in the shadows. The lawsuit aims to separate American citizens from their spouses and stepchildren who are already eligible for lawful permanent residency and could remain together through this process,” he added.
“This lawsuit goes against our nation’s values, and we will vigorously defend Keeping Families Together and our ability to make the immigration system more fair and more just.”
In touting the plan, the Biden administration said during the rollout it would “bring peace of mind and stability to Americans living in mixed-status families” and “allow more young people to contribute to our economy.”
They also noted the average profile of a spouse seeking to adjust their status has already lived in the U.S. for 23 years.
The Department of Homeland Security, which is overseeing the rule, did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Updated: 3:12 p.m.