Texas judge upholds migrant program
HOUSTON — A federal judge in Texas on Friday upheld a key piece of President Joe Biden’s immigration policy that allows a limited number of migrants from four countries to enter the US on humanitarian grounds, dismissing a challenge from Republican-led states that said the program created an economic burden on them.
US District Judge Drew B. Tipton ruled in favor of the humanitarian parole program that allows up to 30,000 asylum-seekers into the US each month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela combined. Eliminating the program would undercut a broader policy that seeks to encourage migrants to use the Biden administration’s preferred pathways into the US or face stiff consequences.
Texas and 20 other states that sued argued the program is forcing them to spend millions on health care, education, and public safety for the migrants. An attorney working with the Texas attorney general’s office in the legal challenge said that the program “created a shadow immigration system.”
Advocates for the federal government countered that migrants admitted through the policy helped with a US farm labor shortage.
An appeal appeared likely. Since the program was launched in fall 2022, more than 357,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela have been granted parole and allowed to enter the country through January. Haitians have been far been the biggest group to use the program with 138,000 people from that country arriving, followed by 86,000 Venezuelans, 74,000 Cubans and 58,000 Nicaraguans.
Migrants must apply online, arrive at an airport and have a financial sponsor in the US If approved, they can stay for two years and get a work permit.
Esther Sung, an attorney for Justice Action Center, which represented seven people who were sponsoring migrants as part of the program, said she was looking forward to calling her clients to let them know of the court’s decision.
“It’s a popular program. People want to welcome other people to this country,” she said.
A message was left seeking comment from the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
During an August trial in Victoria, Texas, Tipton declined to issue any temporary order that would halt the parole program nationwide. Tipton is an appointee of former President Donald Trump who ruled against the Biden administration in 2022 on an order that determined who to prioritize for deportation.
Some states said the initiative has benefited them. One Nicaraguan migrant admitted into the country through the process filled a position at a farm in Washington state that was struggling to find workers.