The US-Mexico border wall is seen in Sasabe, Arizona in December 2023
AFP

A series of Republican-led states have sued the Biden administration over its plan to offer legal status to undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens, saying the measure has been implemented for "blatant political purposes."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement that the initiative "violates the Constitution and actively worsens the illegal immigration disaster that is hurting Texas and our country."

The filing is addressed at Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, as well as other officials. It accuses the agency of abusing its power by offering the path to citizenship to potentially up to half a million people. The plan also reaches stepchildren of U.S. citizens, a number that is estimated to be around 50,000.

The program began taking applications this week. Those eligible can apply for "parole in place," which allows them to stay in the country while they apply for a green card. Before, they had to leave the country without guarantee of being allowed back in for an indeterminate amount of time, making many reluctant to do so.

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Those suing claim that the program is a form of amnesty for people who committed crimes. However, applicants with disqualifying criminal histories or those deemed a threat to national security or public safety are ineligible while approved applicants will have three years to apply for permanent residency and can receive work authorization during this period.

Those who wish to apply for the program must prove that their deportation would cause extreme hardship to their American citizen spouse, including financial and emotional impacts. The application process requires a $580 fee and a detailed submission of supporting documents.

The lawsuit could exacerbate fears about what would happen to the program if Donald Trump is reelected. The former president and current Republican candidate has made mass deportation a central part of his campaign, going as far as to suggest he would use the National Guard, and possibly even the military, to target between 15 million and 20 million illegal immigrants — though the government actually estimates the number to be around 11 million in 2022.