I am undocumented while my spouse is a U.S. citizen, and the Keeping Families Together program (or "parole in place"), which started accepting applications on August 19, allowed me to apply for permanent residence without having to leave the U.S. for years or risk deportation. Roughly 500,000 other "foreign-born spouses of US citizens" like me are also estimated to be eligible for the program.
Although the U.S. government is still accepting applications from undocumented spouses, the program is under a Republican-led legal attack, and on August 26, a federal judge in Texas put a 14-day hold on the program. The government has been blocked from processing applications for the program until the "administrative stay" on Keeping Families Together is lifted.
While my hopes are in limbo due to this attack, I am painfully aware that even if the hold on Keeping Families Together is eventually lifted, this policy still will not protect my father, Oscar Bermudes, who is currently facing deportation.
Despite decades of campaign promises to enact immigration reform, there are still no laws that protect him and millions of families like mine from the agony of family separation. Our family is "mixed status," which means that some of us were born here and others have been able to apply for status through one of the limited and fragile programs.
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