After the Texas v. Department of Homeland Security lawsuit was filed against the Keeping Families Together executive order in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in August, the District Court further paused the program on Oct. 4 until Nov. 8, after Election Day. The order comes after multiple extensions to the original administrative stay that was placed on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ ability to approve individuals for parole through the Keeping Families Together process.
The Biden-Harris administration originally announced on June 18 that the Department of Homeland Security would be implementing the Keeping Families Together executive order, which would offer parole in place to the undocumented spouses or stepchildren of U.S. citizens. USCIS accepted applications for the program, which took effect between Aug. 19 and 26 before the approval process was paused. Individuals with parole in place would temporarily be allowed to stay in the U.S to apply for a green card.
“About the executive order, which is one of the hottest topics right now in immigration law … It is an executive order that was just announced in the summer of this year. This executive order would allow spouses of U.S citizens and stepchildren of U.S citizens to request parole in place. It is only available to spouses and stepchildren of citizens who are already in the United States, and who entered without inspection or admission,” said Yazmin Calvillo, senior legal service provider of the UFW Foundation, who presented at a Keeping Families Together workshop at Delta’s Dreamers’ Success Center on Sept. 25.
However, on Aug. 23, Texas and 15 other states filed a lawsuit against the DHS against the program in the District Court. The parole in place process was subsequently blocked three days later by a 14-day administrative stay issued by federal judge J. Campbell Parker.
The Keeping Families Together program was further paused for September, with the initial administrative stay being extended until Sept. 23. On Sept. 11, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated proceedings on the District Court’s September order, but extended the District Court’s stay on the parole in place process indefinitely.
On Oct. 4, alongside the District Court’s extension of the administrative stay on the Keeping Families Together program, the Fifth Circuit ruled that the intervention of mixed-status families in the Texas v. DHS case would be denied in an unsigned order.
Though the process is paused, individuals can still file and submit the form for the Keeping Families Together program online, even if USCIS cannot accept individuals for parole in place under the administrative stay. Applicants will be disqualified for parole if they have committed a felony or have pending criminal charges, and will be presumed ineligible for other crimes except for minor traffic offenses. Both undocumented spouses and stepchildren must submit biometrics and undergo background checks for their application. Applicants must also pay a $580 fee to file the Keeping Families Together form; USCIS is not guaranteed to refund fees if the executive order is shot down.
“While there is an administrative stay and the USCIS has not actually accepted applications for parole in place, they can still go ahead and file their applications to qualify,” Calvillo said. “So individuals, if they qualify, can file their applications under the executive order and they also would receive biometric appointments.”
The executive order would allow for the spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to apply for parole in place if they had immigrated to the U.S. without documentation. Parole in place would allow undocumented immigrants to be: protected from deportation, applicable for work permits and able to apply for adjustment of status for up to three years. Without parole in place, undocumented spouses or stepchildren would typically have to return to their country of origin for up to 10 years to get their cases processed by a U.S. consulate.
“Before the new executive order, I know that a lot of people faced a lot of challenges when trying to adjust their status. For example … there were spouses of U.S. citizens who came to the U.S. illegally, and because they had unlawful entry … they had to go through the consular processing route, which means that they would have to go back to their country of origin and actually have to stay there for ten years,” Calvillo said. “But now with the executive order, if parole in place is granted under the executive order and applicants are eligible to apply for adjustment of status, they wouldn’t have to go back to their country of origin … So it could potentially lead to being able to adjust their status in the U.S. without having to leave the country.”
