A Texas judge has blocked a controversial program under the Biden Administration that allows the undocumented spouses of America citizens to remain here until their applications for permanent residence are approved.

A federal district court judge, J. Campbell Barker, from the Eastern District of Texas, temporally halted the immigration policy often referred to as “parole in place” with a 14-day stay until the ruling is lifted or overturned on appeal. A previous requirement for applicants to seek a change in legal status from overseas will remain in effect. The judge could also extend the stay order. 

Judge Barker, who was appointed to his position by the Trump administration, released his ruling Monday evening in response to a lawsuit filed against the Department of Homeland Security last week by a cadre of 16 Republican attorneys general led by Ken Paxton of Texas. They complained that the policy violates laws created by congress and is a wide-spread amnesty for those who entered America illegally.

“The claims are substantial and warrant closer consideration than the court has been able to afford to date,” Judge Barker’s ruling said. 

Judge Barker added that Homeland Security can still accept applications, but they will be blocked from processing.

Mr. Paxton, who has said that taxpayers in his state were funding tens of millions of dollars in services for undocumented immigrants under “parole in place,”  expressed his joy over the decision on X.

“Biden’s unconstitutional scheme would have rewarded over one million illegal aliens with the opportunity for citizenship after breaking our country’s laws — and incentivized countless more,” he said.

The new initiative was announced back in June under the banner, “Keeping Families Together,” and nearly half a million foreign-born spouses were eligible. Applications were just opened earlier this month.

According to NBC News, in response to the Paxton-led filing, six undocumented immigrants and their American citizen spouses filed a motion on Monday backed by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights.

“It’s just absurd to me why Texas would bring a lawsuit that would literally tear my family apart,” said an immigrant, Foday Turay, who fled civil war in Sierra Leone with his family as a child.

“I’ve been waiting for over a decade for a program like this,” Mr. Turay, an attorney at Philadelphia, told NBC News. “Living in a country where you’ve been paying taxes for years, and yet you have to face the constant fear of being torn from your family and your community — when is that fear going to stop?”

Judge Barker set a deadline of October 10 for both sides to file arguments in the case.