The U.S. government plans to refund application fees to tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens who applied for a Biden administration program that was overturned by a federal court, according to reports.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will reimburse the $580 application fee paid by roughly 94,000 applicants under the Keeping Families Together program, totaling approximately $55 million.
Announced in June, the initiative aimed to provide temporary legal status and a streamlined path to permanent residency for an estimated half a million undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens, provided they had lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years and had no serious criminal record. However, the policy was halted in late August after a federal judge sided with Republican-led states arguing it violated U.S. immigration laws.
Even if the program had survived the court challenge, it would have faced opposition from the incoming Trump administration, which has pledged to reverse Biden’s immigration policies and implement mass deportations.
The program sought to address the challenges faced by long-term undocumented immigrants who typically must leave the U.S. and reenter legally to qualify for permanent residency. This requirement often triggers a 10-year ban for those who entered illegally. The initiative would have allowed eligible applicants to remain in the U.S. and apply for a green card through an immigration classification called “parole,” which cancels out illegal entry and provides temporary work permits.
In addition to aiding spouses of U.S. citizens, the policy would have benefited about 50,000 undocumented stepchildren of Americans.
USCIS confirmed it will close pending applications and issue refunds. “The court order vacating the Keeping Families Together process has resulted in requestors paying a fee for an immigration benefit that cannot be processed,” the agency said in a statement, calling the refunds “in the public interest and consistent with applicable law.”
