By
The Associated Press
A federal judge in Texas ratified this Friday a key piece of the president's immigration policy, Joe Biden, which allows the entry into the United States of a limited number of immigrants from four countries for humanitarian reasons, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, rejecting thus an appeal from Republican-led states that said the program created an economic burden for them.
District Judge Drew B. Tipton ruled in favor of the humanitarian parole, or
parole
, program , which allows up to 30,000 asylum seekers a month to enter the United States from
Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela in total
.
Eliminating the program would have undermined a broader policy intended to encourage immigrants to use the Biden administration's preferred routes to enter the country or face harsh consequences.
Immigrants wait to be transported at the border between the United States and Mexico, in La Campo, California, on March 7, 2024.Getty Images
Texas and 20 other states that sued argued that the program requires them to spend millions on health care, education and public safety for immigrants.
An attorney who worked with the Texas attorney general's office on the legal challenge said the program
“created a shadow immigration system
.”
Defenders of the federal government's measure countered that immigrants admitted through this policy helped alleviate the agricultural labor shortage in the United States.
The decision is expected to be appealed.
Since the program was launched, more than 357,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela have been paroled and allowed to enter the country as of January.
Haitians have so far been the largest group to use the program,
with 138,000 people
, followed by Venezuelans (86,000), Cubans (74,000) and Nicaraguans (58,000).
Tipton is a judge chosen by then-resident Donald Trump who ruled against the Biden Administration in 2022 in the case of an order that determined who to prioritize when carrying out deportations.
The program began in fall 2022. Migrants must apply online, arrive at an airport and have a financial sponsor in the United States.
If they are approved,
they can stay for two years and obtain a work permit
.
At a trial in August, Tipton refused to issue a temporary order stopping the nationwide parole program.
Some states said the initiative has benefited them.
A Nicaraguan migrant admitted to the country through that process, for example, took a position on a Washington state farm that was having difficulty finding workers. Tipton questioned how Texas could be claiming financial losses if data showed that the parole program It actually reduced the number of migrants coming to the United States.