The Biden administration will defend a key migration program in a Texas federal court starting this week, in a case that could upend operations at the border and curb the executive branch’s immigration authorities.
A bench trial set to begin Thursday will focus on a program rolled out in January that allows tens of thousands of migrants from Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti with willing American sponsors to come to the U.S. legally under an immigration authority known as parole.
The parole program is part of the Biden administration’s carrot-and-stick approach to migration policies, which aims to disincentive migrants from crossing the border without authorization and instead encourage them to take advantage of this newly opened lawful migration pathway.
