A federal judge in Texas has blocked the Biden administration’s “Keep Families Together” (KFT) program, which aimed to provide a green-card pathway for undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens and their stepchildren. Announced in June, the program promised to help about 500,000 undocumented individuals by creating a streamlined process for legal residency.
The program had been temporarily halted since August 26, following a lawsuit led by Texas and joined by 15 other Republican-led states. On Friday, Judge J. Campbell Barker—a Trump appointee on the federal bench in East Texas—sided with the states in ruling that the program violates the Immigration and Nationality Act. Judge Barker pointed to evidence from Texas claiming the program would place financial strain on the state, estimating that undocumented stepchildren enrolled in Texas schools would cost the state over $10,000 per student annually.
Texas argued that the added financial burden of education and healthcare services for these individuals would lead to “concrete harm,” an argument the judge acknowledged. Barker cited state estimates that Texas state and local funding per student in 2024 would average $10,107, claiming the program would introduce costs Texas would not otherwise bear.
The ruling halts the KFT program’s ability to proceed and affects thousands of families hoping to stay together under legal residency. As of now, the Department of Homeland Security and the White House have not responded publicly to the ruling. This decision represents a setback for the Biden administration’s approach to immigration reform, signaling an ongoing legal battle between federal immigration policy and states seeking to challenge its impact.
