A federal judge in Texas dismissed a lawsuit by Republican officials on Friday that aimed to halt a federal program allowing hundreds of thousands of migrants to fly into U.S. airports. The program, central to the Biden administration’s immigration agenda, permits up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter the U.S. each month with American financial sponsors, granting them two-year work permits under humanitarian parole.

The Biden administration argues that the program deters migrants from these crisis-stricken countries from attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. Introduced in January 2023 alongside a bilateral agreement with Mexico, the program includes provisions for migrants who enter the U.S. illegally to be returned to their home countries.

Texas filed the lawsuit, claiming that the program exceeded Congress’s authorized limits on legal immigration and misused the parole authority. However, the U.S. District Court Judge ruled that Texas lacked legal standing to sue and dismissed the case without addressing its legality claims. So far, over 365,000 migrants have arrived under the sponsorship policy, according to internal Department of Homeland Security data.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, both vocal critics of Biden’s immigration policies, have not commented on the ruling, but Texas has the option to appeal. The survival of the sponsorship program marks a legal win for the Biden administration’s efforts to manage migrant flows by expanding legal pathways and enforcing tighter asylum rules.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas noted that other countries are looking to the U.S. program as a model to address their own irregular migration challenges. The White House praised the ruling as a success in reducing unauthorized entries at the southern border by migrants from the four countries.

The judge’s decision, while unexpected given his previous rulings against Biden’s immigration policies, acknowledged a significant decline in illegal border crossings by migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela since the program’s inception. Customs and Border Protection data also show a decrease in unlawful crossings.

Advocates, like Guerline Jozef from the Haitian Bridge Alliance, applaud the ruling, highlighting the program’s essential support for those in need, particularly individuals seeking refuge from crisis-ridden countries like Haiti. The sponsorship program has become a lifeline for many migrants who would otherwise have no means of reaching the U.S. amid ongoing challenges in their home countries.