McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — The Ohio attorney general is being urged to withdraw the state from a lawsuit it is part of with Texas and other states that oppose a new federal pathway for citizenship for undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens and their stepchildren.
A petition was sent Tuesday to Ohio officials, led by the nonprofit organization American Families United, calling “for an immediate end to the legal blockages affecting the ‘Keeping Families Together’ parole process.”
Last month, a federal judge temporarily halted the program, which is also known as Parole in Place, after 16 states led by Texas, including Ohio, filed court documents to get the program stopped.
The Biden administration plan is designed to allow qualifying undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to legally apply for permanent residence without leaving the country.
But Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton alleges that it is promoting “illegal immigration” and has challenged the program by suing the Department of Homeland Security in a federal court in East Texas.
Ohio and these states have also joined the lawsuit, which is filed in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Texas Tyler Division:
Idaho
Alabama
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Iowa
Kansas
Louisiana
Missouri
North Dakota
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Wyoming
Paxton says the program would permit 1.3 million undocumented persons to apply for permanent residency without having to leave the country, including an estimated 200,000 living in Texas.
Nationwide, an estimated 1.1 million U.S. citizens are married to long-term undocumented spouses, according to data from Fwd.Us.
In Ohio, an estimated 2% of U.S. citizens live with at least one undocumented person and 2% of U.S. citizen children live with at least one undocumented person, according to American Families United.
Heather Gonzalez, vice president of the board of American Families United, says she also lives in a mixed-status family. During a news conference on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse on Tuesday in Columbus, she said she “can relate to the fear of family separation that many members face today.”
“American families live in fear of separation and are forced to navigate a long and stressful process to simply stay together,” Gonzalez said.
They are asking Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to withdraw from the lawsuit.
“We urge lawmakers, policy makers, and advocates to listen to our voices and act decisively to ensure that no U.S. citizen has to live in fear of having their family separated,” the petition against the lawsuit says. “The U.S. citizens in our families should not be collateral damage in a political battle but should instead be supported in their pursuit of a life with their families.”
Yost is expected to speak during a “tele-town hall” with Republican Ohio Congressman Lee Zeldin and Ashley Hayek, the executive director of America First Works, a nonprofit that promotes conservative policies.
In its flyer for the town hall on “Ohio’s migrants crisis,” AFW says, “Our borders are overwhelmed, and our communities are at risk. How much longer will leaders stand by as this chaos unfolds?”
The town hall is scheduled for 5 p.m. EDT Thursday.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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