Biden immigration policy for undocumented spouses of US citizens declared illegal

A judge appointed by President-elect Donald Trump has already struck down the Biden immigration policy that sought to help US citizens' undocumented spouses.

The legality surrounding the Biden administration's “parole in place” policy was drastically transformed on Thursday after a federal judge struck it down. The immigration program granted legal status to certain undocumented spouses of US citizens.

US President Joe Biden (L) addresses the nation from the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, November 7, 2024, after Donald Trump wins presidential election, and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) attends a town hall meeting moderated by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan, on September 17, 2024. (AFP)

US District Court Judge J Campbell Barker's ruling came hot on the heels of President-elect Donald Trump's projected victory in the 2024 US elections, ringing in the Republican leader's major White House comeback. Biden administration announced the Keeping Families Together policy earlier this year in an attempt to promote family unity among mixed-status households. However, Trump's incoming rise to power has already served as a major defeat hot on the platter for Biden's term running out of fumes.

Biden vs Trump already hitting hard during the transition period

As an appointee of President-elect Trump during his first term, Barker’s latest move has shattered a policy that Biden pushed for during his initial reelection campaign, shielding some undocumented married partners of US citizens from deportation. The program even allowed them to work legally in the US as they moved towards their own citizenship. It would have secured a place for people who had been living in the country for 10 years without committing serious crimes. Additionally, the policy’s deportation protection shield would have extended to undocumented stepchildren of US citizens.

Previous estimations per CNN’s report indicated that the Biden admin’s program could affect 750,000 to 800,000 people. However, with Trump also separately vowing to seal and militarise the US-Mexico border, kicking off the largest mass deportation in the country’s history, it is no surprise that the safeguards set in place by the Keeping Families Together policy have already been dismantled.

Barker’s ruling aligned with the lawsuit filed by over a dozen Republican-led states, including Texas, that accused the policy of violating US immigration law.