Judge blocks Biden program providing pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens

A federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas on Monday temporarily blocked a Biden administration program that allowed undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens to apply for green cards without leaving the U.S.

The program, which the White House named Keeping Families Together, would provide a form of legal relief known as “parole in place” to undocumented spouses of American citizens who could prove they have lived in the U.S. continuously for at least 10 years and met a host of other requirements.

Typically, undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens need to leave the country to apply for green cards and eventually citizenship, risking yearslong or even permanent separation from their families. Parole in place would have allowed them to apply without leaving the U.S.

The White House estimated that 500,000 people were eligible for the program, and federal immigration agencies began accepting applications Aug. 19. But the Republican attorneys general of Texas and 15 other states sued Friday to stop the program, leading to the judge’s temporary block.

In filing the suit, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the program “directly violates the laws created by Congress.”

U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker wrote in his ruling that the states’ claims “are substantial and warrant closer consideration than the court has been able to afford to date.” The block will stand for 14 days initially but could be extended.

Barker’s ruling orders the government to stop granting parole under the program, but it does not instruct the government to stop receiving applications. Immigrants can still apply for the program, but their applications will not be processed until the stay is lifted.

The states that filed the lawsuit were assisted by America First Legal, the group founded and led by Stephen Miller, senior adviser to former President Donald Trump and architect of many of his administration’s immigration policies. Miller called Monday’s ruling a “huge victory” in a news release.

In a statement, President Biden condemned the decision. “Last night, a single district court in Texas ruled that our work to keep families together has to stop,” he said. “That ruling is wrong. These families should not be needlessly separated. They should be able to stay together, and my Administration will not stop fighting for them.”

Immigrants hoping to benefit from the program expressed anguish and frustration. “This is heartbreaking,” said Foday Turay, who was brought to the U.S. from Sierra Leone as a child and now works as a prosecutor for the Philadelphia district attorney.

Turay was one of a group of immigrants who filed a motion to intervene in the litigation Monday to defend the program alongside the Justice Department. He is married to an American woman from New Jersey, with whom he has a 1-year-old son.

“My wife and I were really depending on this so we could move on with our lives and plan our future,” he said. “It feels like a knife to the heart.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com