16 Red States File Lawsuit Challenging Biden “Parole in Place” Program for Undocumented Immigrant Spouses of US Citizens
In June, the Biden Administration granted “parole in place” to undocumented immigrant spouses of US citizens. Predictably, 16 GOP-controlled states led by Texas have filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the program. I think the lawsuit deserves to fail. But there may well be a lengthy legal battle before the case is resolved.
Here’s my brief summary of the parole in place program (written at the time it was announced):
Today, President Biden announced a policy granting “parole in place” to undocumented immigrant spouses of US citizens who have been in the US for at least 10 years, and meet some other criteria. Those eligible can apply for parole status. If they get it, they will then have a three-year period during which they will have work permits and can apply for “green card” permanent residency (that status will eventually also enable them to apply for citizenship). Currently spouses of US citizens are already eligible to apply for green cards. But if they entered the US illegally, they are required to meet onerous conditions, such as first leaving the United States, and staying away for up to ten years. About 500,000 people could potentially benefit from the program.
The grant of parole will enable them to dispense with these requirements. Under Section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, undocumented immigrants who have been granted parole may have their status adjusted to that of temporary legal residents. That adjustment would dispense with various penalties for unlawful entry, including the requirement to leave the US for a long period of time before applying for a green card.
And here’s my summary of why the program is legal (which anticipated many of the key legal arguments raised by the plaintiff states):
The relevant statute gives the president the power to grant parole entitling non-citizens to temporary legal residence, “on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.”
This is the same statute under which Biden earlier granted parole to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion of their country, and to migrants from four Latin American nations (Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Haiti, the “CNVH” countries) wracked by oppression and violence. A coalition of twenty red state governments filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the CNVH program. In March, federal District Judge Drew Tipton (a conservative Trump appointee whose court the states picked because they expected him to be sympathetic to their cause) ruled the states lacked standing to bring the case. That ruling is now on appeal.
As in the CNVH case, there is a strong argument that parole for spouses of US citizens is backed by “urgent humanitarian reasons.” Deporting such people (or requiring them to leave the country for many years to become eligible for legal residency) inflicts serious harm on their families, including many children. There is also a strong case that this grant of parole creates “significant public benefit.” As already noted, keeping families intact benefits the larger community, as well as the families themselves. Again, don’t take my word for it! Take that of pro-family social conservatives (as well as many social scientists across the political spectrum).
If, as is likely, conservative red states challenge the new policy in court, they will probably focus on the requirement that parole only be granted on a “case-by-case basis and claim that the administration’s rules are too categor
Article from Reason.com
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