The federal judge overturns Biden’s immigration policy, which protects select undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens from deportation

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Thursday struck down the Biden administration’s “parole in place” policy, which gives legal status to certain undocumented people married to U.S. citizens.

U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker had previously placed an administrative hold on the regulation, which was introduced earlier this year as President Joe Biden ran for re-election, as the judge heard the lawsuit filed by Texas and 15 other states. The policy protected select undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens from deportation and allowed them to work legally in the country while seeking citizenship.

In his ruling Thursday on the merits of their case, Barker, appointed by President-elect Donald Trump during his first term, said Congress had not given the executive branch the authority to implement such a policy. He wrote that “history and purpose bear out that Defendants’ view” of the relevant immigration law “extends legal interpretation beyond the breaking point.”

The case is one of several ongoing legal challenges to the Biden administration’s policies that the new Trump administration may refuse to defend after the White House changes hands.

Barker denied a request from individuals who benefited from the program to intervene in the case so they could also defend the policy.

The policy would have applied to people who have lived in the United States for 10 years, and would have used the existing legal authority known as “parole in place” that provides protection from deportation. In addition to spouses, the policy would also apply to undocumented stepchildren of U.S. citizens.

As CNN previously reported, it was estimated that the program could directly affect 750,000 to 800,000 people. That could have made it the federal government’s most sweeping relief program since the 2012 implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), which protects undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as minors from deportation.

DACA itself is currently the target of a years-long legal challenge. An appeals court heard arguments earlier this fall over a judge’s ruling that found the DACA program unlawful but allowed it to continue for current enrollees while an appeal was pending.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Lauren Fox, Edward-Isaac Dovere and Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.