A Texas U.S. judge ruled on Thursday against President Joe Biden’s initiative aimed at providing a pathway to citizenship for certain immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens, potentially keeping the program blocked throughout Biden’s final months in office.
U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker determined that the program, which would allow around 500,000 undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens to apply for citizenship, overstepped Biden’s executive authority.
The initiative, called Keeping Families Together, was launched in August but was quickly frozen by Barker, who paused it while considering a legal challenge from Texas and a group of states with Republican attorneys general.
Biden, a Democrat, introduced the program in June ahead of the presidential race, which eventually saw Vice President Kamala Harris face Republican candidate Donald Trump, known for his hardline immigration stance. Trump won the election on Tuesday and is expected to implement a broad immigration crackdown, likely reversing Biden’s initiative, which his campaign criticized as “mass amnesty” that could encourage illegal immigration.
Polling from Reuters/Ipsos shows that immigration is the top concern for many Americans, and a majority expect Trump to order mass deportations of undocumented individuals once he takes office in January. The Biden administration may appeal the court ruling, though the White House has not yet commented.
