Judge asks if poverty qualifies for Biden policy letting migrants from 4 countries into US

By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge is questioning whether living in poverty would be enough to qualify someone for a key immigration policy from President Joe Biden. It allows a limited number of people from four countries in the Americas to enter on humanitarian grounds. The judge heard closing arguments on Friday in a trial from a lawsuit filed by Texas and 20 other Republican-leaning states seeking to stop the program. He did not immediately rule on the legality of the humanitarian parole program. Under the program, up to 30,000 people are being allowed each month into the U.S. from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.