Federal Judge Strikes Down Biden Admin's Migrant Spouse Amnesty Program

A federal judge on Thursday denied a Biden Administration program aimed at granting amnesty to unauthorized immigrants married to U.S. citizens.

The Details: A program put forward by the Biden administration in August called ‘Keeping Families Together’ was thrown out by Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker, who deemed it both illegal and out of Biden’s scope of executive authority. Barker froze the program days after being introduced while considering legal challenges brought on by a coalition of 15 U.S. states who opposed the program.

For Context: The program utilized a "parole in place" approach to granting amnesty and citizenship, different from the typical process of leaving and reentering the country after gaining approval. It's unclear how many individuals the decision impacts, with the Biden administration estimating about 500,000 and the coalition of opposed states claiming upwards of 1.3 million unauthorized immigrants would benefit.

How the Media Covered It: Fox News (Right bias) utilized the term “illegal immigrant spouses” while the Associated Press (Lean Left bias) used “immigrant spouses.” Coverage on the left also tended to omit much of the commentary from the America First Legal team, while outlets on the right tended to omit views of humanitarian activists.