Judge rules Biden’s ‘Keeping Families Together’ program for undocumented spouses is illegal
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(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge has struck down the Biden administration’s program known as “Keeping Families Together,” dealing a major blow to the estimated half a million undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens that DHS estimates would have benefited.
The administration announced the program in June, but a coalition of 16 Republican-led states — led by Texas and Stephen Miller’s America First Legal — quickly filed a lawsuit after applications were made available in August.
A federal judge put the program on hold just days after hopeful applicants filed their paperwork.
The program would have provided temporary relief from deportation for undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens through a process known as “parole in place.” It would have allowed them to apply for legal status without having to leave the country.
On Thursday, Judge J. Campbell Barker ruled in favor of the Republican-led effort to dismantle the program, agreeing with Republican states that the administration had exceeded its statutory authority because the Immigration and Nationality Act allows for paroling people “into the United States,” not to those already in the country.
Noncitizen spouses are already eligible for legal status under current laws but often have to apply from their home countries and face up to a 10-year ban from returning to the U.S.
In August, ABC News spoke with a 24-year-old woman who was one of the first people to be approved under the program. She is married to a U.S. citizen and they have a 3-year-old child.
It’s unclear at the moment what will happen to people who have already submitted their paperwork, like Cecilia, and if they’ll be able to get their application fees refunded.
ABC News has reached out to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the White House for a comment.
“District Court Judge J. Campbell Barker did not just dismantle the Keeping Families Together program, he shattered the hopes of hundreds of thousands of American families. The Biden-Harris program would have allowed noncitizen spouses and noncitizen stepchildren of U.S. citizens to stay in the country after they’ve contributed to our communities, helped grow our economy, and built lives with their loved ones” Ashley DeAzevedo, president of American Families United, said in a statement to ABC News.
“We urge the Biden-Harris administration to immediately appeal Judge Barker’s ruling, preventing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and 15 other Republican Attorneys General cruel lawsuit from devastating over 550,000 individuals in mixed-status families. Families like ours deserve better than this blatant attempt to stop a legal program, and we will not stop until the courts rectify this injustice,” DeAzevedo said.
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump, ahead of his return to power in January, is announcing who he wants to fill Cabinet positions and other key roles inside his administration.
Trump began to roll out his nominees and appointees just days after his election victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. They include some of his staunchest allies on Capitol Hill and key advisers to his 2024 campaign.
Trump will have a Republican-controlled Senate and possibly a Republican-controlled House to help usher his picks through. But he’s also urging the incoming Senate leader to embrace recess appointments, which has led to speculation some of his choices may be more controversial.
Here is a running list of whom Trump has selected, or is expected to select, to serve in his administration.
Secretary of state: Marco Rubio
Trump is expected to announce Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Rubio is the vice-chair of the Senate Select Committee on Foreign Intelligence and sits on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He holds hard-line views on China, Iran and Russia, although like other Republicans he has shifted on support for Ukraine’s war effort to be more aligned with Trump.
Rubio will need to be confirmed by the Senate. Read more about Rubio’s experience here.
Department of Homeland Security secretary: Kristi Noem
Trump announced he has chosen South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to be his secretary for the Department of Homeland Security.
As Trump’s Homeland Security secretary, among Noem’s biggest roles is expected to be to oversee Trump’s border policies, including the major campaign promise of “mass deportations,” alongside Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan and White House deputy chief of staff on policy Stephen Miller.
The role would require Senate approval. Read more about Noem here.
Department of Homeland Security secretary: Kristi Noem
Trump announced he has chosen South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to be his secretary for the Department of Homeland Security.
As Trump’s Homeland Security secretary, among Noem’s biggest roles is expected to be to oversee Trump’s border policies, including the major campaign promise of “mass deportations,” alongside Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan and White House deputy chief of staff on policy Stephen Miller.
The role would require Senate approval. Read more about Noem here.
‘Department of Government Efficiency’: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy
Trump announced the two men will lead what he’s calling a new “Department of Government Efficiency.”
It will not be a new federal agency, but will provide “outside of government” counsel on reforming departments and cutting waste, Trump said.
Read more about Trump’s plan here. The president-elect did not detail how this new department would be funded.
‘Border czar’: Tom Homan
Trump announced former Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan will serve as “border czar.”
He will be charged with seeing out the mass deportations Trump promised throughout his campaign.
Homan oversaw ICE under the Trump administration for a year and a half, at a time when the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy led to parents being separated from their children at the border.
“Border czar” is not an official Cabinet position, meaning it won’t need Senate confirmation. Read more about Homan here.
Chief of staff: Susie Wiles
Susie Wiles will be the first female chief of staff for any White House.
Wiles was Trump’s co-campaign manager for his 2024 run. Trump also credited her for her work on his 2016 and 2020 White House bids, though his 2024 bid ran smoother and saw fewer shake-ups.
Wiles is the daughter of legendary NFL Hall of Famer Pat Summerall. She will not require Senate confirmation to serve in the post.
Deputy chief of staff for policy: Stephen Miller
Trump announced that Stephen Miller will become his deputy chief of staff for policy.
Miller is one of Trump’s senior advisers and helped craft his hard-line immigration policies during his first term. He will be key in trying to implement Trump’s 2024 campaign pledge to mass deport migrants illegally living in the U.S.
He will not require Senate confirmation to serve in the post. Read more about Miller’s background here.
In addition to Wiles and Miller, Trump also announced other key White House figures: Dan Scavino was named assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff; James Blair was named assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs; and Taylor Budowich will serve as assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel.
Ambassador to the United Nations: Elise Stefanik
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik has been tapped to be Trump’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Stefanik joined Congress as a moderate Republican but became one of Trump’s key defenders after his first impeachment and after his 2020 election loss. She joined House leadership in 2021 as chair of the House Republican Conference.
Stefanik made headlines this past year as she challenged university presidents on their handling of protests over the Israel-Gaza war. She’s also accused the United Nations of antisemitism over some of the resolutions passed amid the conflict.
Stefanik will have to be confirmed by the Senate to serve in the role. Read more about Stefanik here.
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency: John Ratcliffe
Trump has selected John Ratcliffe to serve as director of the CIA.
The former three-term Republican congressman from Texas served as Trump’s director of national intelligence from mid-2020 until the end of Trump’s first term.
His path to DNI wasn’t a smooth one — he was nominated to the post in 2019, but he withdrew his nomination after questions from both parties arose about his qualifications for the job and whether he had embellished his record as a federal prosecutor.
“From exposing fake Russian collusion to be a Clinton campaign operation, to catching the FBI’s abuse of Civil Liberties at the FISA Court, John Ratcliffe has always been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public,” Trump said in a statement announcing his pick. “When 51 intelligence officials were lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop, there was one, John Ratcliffe, telling the truth to the American People.”
Ratcliffe’s nomination requires Senate confirmation. Read more about him here.
Environmental Protection Agency administrator: Lee Zeldin
Trump has tapped former New York congressman Lee Zeldin to lead the EPA.
Zeldin represented Long Island’s Suffolk County in the House of Representatives for eight years before launching a failed bid for governor against Democrat Kathy Hochul. Before becoming an elected official, Zeldin was an attorney.
Zeldin has pledged to eliminate regulations at the EPA he claimed are hampering businesses. He also said he wanted to restore energy independence as well as protect access to clean air and water.
Zeldin will need Senate confirmation to serve in the role. Read more about him here.
National security adviser: Mike Waltz
Trump has picked Florida Rep. Michael Waltz to be his national security adviser.
Waltz, who was the first Green Beret elected to the House, sits on the House Intelligence, Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees. Before becoming an elected official, Walz served in various national security policy roles.
The national security adviser is appointed by the president with no Senate confirmation needed.
Ambassador to Israel: Mike Huckabee
Trump announced he has nominated former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel.
The role, which will need to be confirmed by the Senate, will be a key appointment as tensions remain high in the Middle East. Like David Friedman, Trump’s first ambassador to Israel, Huckabee is an outspoken supporter of the Israeli settlement movement.
(WASHINGTON) — The Democratic National Committee on Saturday is launching a new ad campaign targeted at rural voters to boost turnout in two southern battlegrounds in the final days of the presidential election.
The effort, backed by a six-figure media buy, comes as Democrats are especially concerned that early vote turnout is low among Black voters in rural areas. The effort will span 15 counties that are part of the “Black Belt” in Georgia and North Carolina.
The ads, which will run on multi-media billboards and on radio stations in the area, will feature DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison, a Black South Carolinian who has spoken extensively of his upbringing in rural Orangeburg. The effort will promote policies that Democrats say will help rural voters, including expanding rural infrastructure, making health care more affordable and ensuring rural hospitals can remain open.
“In the final days of this election, Democrats are not taking our foot off the gas as we communicate our plan for rural America. From affordable and accessible health care, to lower costs, and economic opportunities, the Democratic Party will fight for the policies that make a tangible difference for rural Americans,” Harrison said in a statement provided first to ABC News.
“Growing up in a rural town, I know how important it is to show up and truly meet rural voters where they are. The DNC’s latest rural ‘I Will Vote’ initiative does exactly that, ensuring that the final message rural voters in the critical battlegrounds of Georgia and North Carolina receive in this election is Democrats’ commitment to fight for them.”
The ad buy comes as Democrats grow concerned that Black rural voters are not participating in early voting at the rate that the party needs.
Democrats hope to be competitive in Georgia and North Carolina, where Black rural voters are key. Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to clean up in urban areas, but she’ll have to keep former President Donald Trump’s rural margins down enough to stop him from offsetting her advantage in cities like Atlanta and Raleigh.
In Georgia, 41% of early voters are Republican, and 42% are Democrats, according to 538 analysis of voter data from L2, a non-partisan political data company. In 2020, early voting was 41% Republican – 46% Democrat.
It’s the same story in North Carolina, where 34% of early vote ballots have been cast by Republicans, and 33% by Democrats. In 2020, early voting was 32% Republican – 35% Democrat.
Of voters who voted early in 2020, only 66% of Black voters have cast an early ballot this time around so far. That number drops to 63% of Black voters in rural areas.
The drop is likely explainable in part by this year’s election not taking place in the middle of a pandemic, whereas in 2020, many voters leaned on early and absentee voting to avoid long lines and possible COVID-19 exposures.
Still, both states remain highly competitive. Polling averages from 538 show Trump up 1.6 points in Georgia and 1.3 points in North Carolina.
Early voting has also had some promising signs for Democrats, including high female turnout, particularly as polls show a widening gender gap, with women leaning toward Harris and men toward Trump.
And while operatives said Democrats were not hitting their marks with Black rural voters early on, that trend has begun to be mitigated, with veteran North Carolina Democratic strategist Morgan Jackson conceding that while “they had started early vote a little low,” the turnout has “picked up pretty substantially.”
“My suspicion is by Saturday’s close, they’ll be at parity with where they were four years ago,” added Michael Bitzer, a political science professor at Catawba College in North Carolina who is tracking the early vote numbers.
(GRAND RAPIDS, MI) — Former President Donald Trump and his vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance, spent the closing hours of the 2024 campaign reviving rhetoric criticized by opponents as divisive.
Trump’s closing rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, saw the former president deliver meandering attacks on political opponents, baselessly claim that electronic voting machines are not secure and suggest it would be the fault of his supporters if he lost Tuesday’s vote.
Trump took aim at President Joe Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during his address, suggesting the former “was stuck in a basement” during the campaign and mouthing an expletive when referring to the latter.
While Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz stuck to their message of American unity, Trump said he was “running against an evil Democrat system” populated by what he called “evil people.”
Vance, meanwhile, described Democratic leaders as “trash” in returning to Biden’s recent remarks in which he appeared to call Trump supporters “garbage.”
Biden’s comments were in response to comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s controversial joke about Puerto Rico at last month’s Madison Square Garden rally. Biden later said he was referring specifically to Hinchcliffe, not Trump supporters generally.
“To the Pennsylvanians who are struggling, no matter what Kamala Harris and Joe Biden and Tim Walz say, you are not garbage for being worried about not being able to afford your groceries,” Vance told rally goers at an event in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
“You are not garbage for thinking that Kamala Harris ought to do a better job,” he continued. “You are not racist for thinking that America deserves to have a secure southern border.”
“So, to Kamala Harris, you shouldn’t be calling your citizens garbage,” Vance continued. “You shouldn’t be criticizing people for daring to criticize you for doing a bad job.”
“And our message to the leadership, to the elites of the Democratic Party is no, the people of Pennsylvania are not garbage for struggling under your leadership,” Vance said. “But tomorrow, the people of Pennsylvania are going to take out the trash in Washington, D.C., and we’re going to do it together.”
Trump also recommitted to working with former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who he described as “a credible guy” that will be “very much involved” in his administration if he wins.
“He’s got a tremendous view on health and pesticides and all this stuff,” Trump said at a rally in Pittsburgh. “And we’re not really a healthy country,” he added.
Kennedy would be allowed “to pretty much do what he wants,” Trump said.
Kennedy’s activism against vaccines, immunization and other public health measures like water fluoridation has raised concerns among medical experts and been broadly criticized by Democrats. So, too, has his opposition to abortion, an issue on which his policy shifted during his presidential tilt.
“Bobby, you got to do one thing,” Trump said Monday. “Do whatever you want. You just go ahead, work on that pesticides. Work on making women’s health. He’s so into women’s health … he’s really unbelievable. It’s such a passion.”
ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Kelsey Walsh, Soo Rin Kim and Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.
