Federal Court Blocks Biden-Harris Parole-in-Place Amnesty Program

FAIR Take | November 2024

Just days after the election, a federal district court struck down what was planned to be a signature amnesty program of the Biden-Harris administration. The decision was a resounding victory for the rule of law by declaring that “parole-in-place” is contrary to the Immigration and Nationality Act and violated the limited authority and temporary nature of the Secretary to grant parole to inadmissible aliens.

At issue is the Keeping Families Together initiative proposed by the administration in June 2024 and launched later in August. The program was designed to grant amnesty to illegal aliens who have been living in the U.S. for at least 10 years (as of June 17, 2024), and have a legally valid marriage to a U.S. citizen as of June 17, 2024. USCIS estimated that 550,000 aliens would benefit. By granting illegal alien spouses parole-in-place, the program would have shielded illegal aliens from deportation, granted them work authorization and put them on a path to citizenship.

From the start, the Biden-Harris administration knew the Keeping Families Together program rested on shaky legal ground. Yet it moved forward with the program, which unabashedly rewards lawbreakers, in order to please its political base and shore up its chances for re-election.

Immigration parole, which is intended to be used sparingly on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons, was twisted into a sweeping amnesty. The mass use of parole, a brazen violation of the statute, was never about “keeping families together.” Instead, it was a blatant effort to sidestep Congress and implement a legalization program to advance the administration’s radical open-borders agenda. Indeed, current law already allows spouses of U.S. citizens to obtain legal status by leaving the country and filing the appropriate paperwork. But rather than requiring illegal aliens to use this pathway set forth by Congress, the administration attempted to allow them to remain in the U.S. under the auspices of parole.

This parole-in-place initiative was only the beginning of a larger scheme. Had Biden and Harris’ disregard for the law been rubberstamped by the courts, the administration would have expanded the use of parole until it covered all illegal aliens in the country.

Unfortunately, after the initial launch of the program in August, parole-in-place applications were rapidly approved, with some aliens receiving parole within 24 hours. Had the court not stepped in, no doubt thousands more would have been approved by now. The administration has not yet indicated how it will address cases where it has already granted parole through this illegal program, but given the court’s sweeping rebuke of the program, it should immediately rescind those paroles.

The U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Texas initially issued an injunction after the parole-in-place program was launched, and last week’s ruling now permanently blocks the initiative.