Attorney General Alan Wilson wins major victory, blocking Biden-Harris administration’s unlawful “Parole in Place” policy

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - Attorney General Alan Wilson helped secure a final judgment permanently blocking the Biden-Harris administration’s unlawful “parole in place” policy that would have provided a path to citizenship for over a million illegal immigrants who have not satisfied the clear requirements set by Congress.

“This is one of the many Biden-Harris administration policies we’ve fought because they tried to do something they don’t have the authority to do,” Attorney General Wilson said. “This plan was unlawful, and it would have rewarded more than one million illegal immigrants with citizenship and given millions more an incentive to come here illegally. Parole in place has no place under the law.”

On August 23, Attorney General Wilson and a 16-state coalition led by Texas, along with co-counsel America First Legal, sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) over a new policy granting so-called “parole in place” to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants that would allow them to gain permanent residency status—and eventual U.S. citizenship—while remaining in the United States. 

However, Immigrants unlawfully present in the United States are prohibited from obtaining legal permanent resident status without first leaving the country and applying at an embassy or consulate in their home countries. Instead of following federal law, Biden’s DHS announced that it would permit 1.3 million immigrants to apply for permanent residency without returning first to their home countries. On August 27, Attorney General Wilson and the coalition obtained a temporary stay while litigation continued and has now secured a final order permanently vacating the unlawful rule. The federal district court found that the Biden-Harris administration lacked statutory authority to grant “parole in place” to illegal immigrants and prohibited the federal government from enforcing the rule. 

To read the opinion, click here.

To read the final judgment, click here.