Migrants who crossed the Rio Grande and entered the U.S. from Mexico are lined up for processing by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Sept. 23, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. On March 8, 2024, a federal judge in Texas upheld a key piece of President Joe Biden's immigration policy that allows a limited number of migrants from four countries to enter the U.S. on humanitarian grounds.
"In reaching this conclusion, the Court does not address the lawfulness of the Program," Tipton wrote.Eliminating the program would undercut a broader policy that seeks to encourage migrants to use the Biden administration's preferred pathways into the U.S. or face stiff consequences. The Texas Attorney General's Office, the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which defended the program, didn't immediately reply to messages seeking comment.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.
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.During an August trial in Victoria, Texas, Tipton declined to issue any temporary order that would halt the parole program nationwide.
"The Court has before it a case in which Plaintiffs claim that they have been injured by a program that has actually lowered their out-of-pocket costs," Tipton said in Friday's ruling. Federal government attorneys and immigrant rights groups said that in many cases, Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans are also fleeing oppressive regimes, escalating violence and worsening political conditions that have endangered their lives.