New developments have emerged relating to a pending lawsuit before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas known as Texas et. al. vs. DHS et. al., Case No. 6:24-cv-00306 (E.D. Tex.), which halted the approval of applications filed under the Biden administration’s parole in place program.

Lawsuit Updates

On August twenty sixth eleven different intervening parties who stood to benefit from the parole in place program filed a motion to be included in the Texas lawsuit.
On September third the Texas district court judge denied their request. As a result, the eleven parties filed an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit arguing that the lower court’s denial of the motion to be included was incorrect.
On September eleventh the Fifth Circuit Court ordered the lower court to stop all proceedings until the appeals court has had the opportunity to hear the appeal.
A hearing date of October tenth has been scheduled, and the court has said that no further decisions can be made in the lower court until that date.
The appellate court’s order states as follows, “Meaning no criticism of the district court’s recognition of the need for prompt resolution, this panel must have an opportunity to consider the merits briefs, scheduled to be received by September 16, and to hear argument on the appeal of the denial of intervention. Accordingly, we administratively STAY proceedings in the district court pending a decision on the merits or other order of this court. The stay issued by the district court will remain in effect pending further order of this court.”

How does this affect Parole in Place

In the meantime, the immigration service will continue accepting and processing parole in place applications under the Keeping Families Together program, but it cannot approve cases until further notice.
Although pending court proceedings have temporarily stopped the approval of Form I-131F applications, undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens eligible for PIP under the Keeping Families Together program should consider the possibility of filing their application with an immigration attorney as soon as possible.
Folks who receive biometrics appointments for PIP applications filed with immigration should continue to go their appointments.
Since it is unknown whether new court orders could stop the acceptance of applications in the near future it is very important for qualifying applicants to decide now and to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of filing a PIP application.

If you have questions about your eligibility for the program, please contact us to schedule a consultation.