Federal program that could help thousands of undocumented Minnesotans now on hold
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A federal program created to help some families with mixed citizenship status stay together has been temporarily halted by a judge in Texas.
However, the outcome of this case will have an impact on thousands of immigrants in Minnesota.
Keeping Families Together can help certain noncitizen spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens apply for green cards and eventually citizenship without leaving the country.
Before the program, many immigrants who had entered the U.S. illegally often had to return to their home countries for several years before they could legally re-enter the U.S. and for that reason many choose to stay undocumented, for fear of being separated from their families for years or even permanently.
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The program is designed to help about 500,000 undocumented spouses in the U.S. and at least 3,000 undocumented spouses in Minnesota.
When the program was launched last month, people could apply for approval.
But a few days after the Biden Administration announced the program, 16 Republican attorneys general filed a lawsuit to stop it. They argue that the Department of Homeland Security overstepped its authority in implementing the program.
The complaint alleges that the Biden administration is attempting to create its own immigration system for “blatant political purposes” and that this program would incentivize illegal immigration.
As a result, a federal court issued an administrative stay on Aug. 26, which allows U.S. citizenship and immigration services to continue accepting applications but prevents them from approving any until further notice.
There are criteria people have to meet to be eligible for the program. A noncitizen spouse of a U.S. citizen has to have been continuously physically present in the United States since at least June 17, 2014, through the date of filing their request.
They also have to have been legally married to a U.S. citizen on or before June 17, 2024 and have no disqualifying criminal history and not be deemed to be a threat to public safety, national security, or border security.
Stepchildren of U.S. citizens have to have been under the age of 21 and unmarried on June 17, 2024 and have a noncitizen parent who entered into a legally valid marriage with a U.S. citizen on or before that same date and before their 18th birthday.
Michele Garnett McKenzie is the deputy director at the Advocates for Human Rights and she says this program could change the lives of thousands of Minnesotans, but she also says it’s common for a program like this to face these types of challenges.
“We’re operating under a law from 1965 and it’s had a number of band-aids and additions and subtractions over the years, but it’s really a framework that doesn’t provide for a safe, predictable, reliable channel of migration for people to come to the United States,” McKenzie said.
The hold on the program is temporary and is supposed to last 14 days. What happens next is up to the courts. Legal experts say, similar to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program or DACA, depending on each person’s case, it could take some families years before receiving approval.