U.S. District Court Judge J. Campbell Barker, an appointee of President-elect Donald Trump, found the program violates U.S. immigration law, agreeing with a lawsuit filed by Texas and more than a dozen other Republican-led states.

The ruling is a major defeat for the outgoing Biden administration, which argued the policy, known as Keeping Families Together, promoted family unity among mixed-status households.

When it was announced earlier this year, officials said roughly half-a-million undocumented immigrants were likely eligible for the program.

The Justice Department can appeal Thursday’s ruling, but the incoming administration of Trump, has vowed to dismantle President Biden’s immigration policies. Trump has separately promised to seal and militarize the U.S.-Mexico border and oversee the largest mass deportation in American history.

The Keeping Families Together initiative was announced by Mr. Biden in June, just weeks after he took a different executive action to sharply limit asylum along the U.S.-Mexico border

The program would give work permits and deportation protections to undocumented immigrants who are married to American citizens and have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years without committing serious crimes.

Most importantly, the policy would also allow these immigrants to apply for permanent residency, also known as a green card. After three years, green card holders married to U.S. citizens can apply for citizenship.

No fewer than 65 world leaders, including Heads of State, have been invited to grace the Tinubu’s inauguration.

The former Lagos State governor will be sworn in as the 16th President of Nigeria on May 29 at Eagle Square, Abuja.

Also expected at the nation’s seventh transition ceremony are past presidents, diplomats, heads of international organisations and prominent Nigerians and representatives of foreign governments and agencies.

The inauguration programmes will begin on Thursday with the investiture of Tinubu with  the Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic and the Vice-President-elect, Kashim Shettima, as the Grand Commander of Order of the Niger.

Representatives of Nigeria’s traditional allies such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, China, Germany, Finland, Jamaica, Japan, Israel, Turkey and several others are expected at the high-profile event.

Ahead of the inauguration, Biden, in a statement released on the White House website on Monday night, announced a nine-member delegation for the event.

The delegation will be led by Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Marcia L. Fudge.

Below are members of the Presidential Delegation:

• Mr. David Greene, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., U.S. Embassy Abuja
• The Honorable Sydney Kamlager-Dove, United States Representative (D), California
• The Honorable Marisa Lago, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, U.S. Department of Commerce
• General Michael E. Langley, Commander of U.S. Africa Command
• The Honorable Enoh T. Ebong, Director, U.S. Trade and Development Agency
• The Honorable Mary Catherine Phee, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State
• The Honorable Judd Devermont, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs, National Security Council
• The Honorable Monde Muyangwa, Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development.

Events lined up for the inauguration include a lecture titled, ‘Deepening Democracy for Integration and Development’ that would be delivered by former president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, on May 27.

Other activities include the Regimental Dinner in honour of the Commander-in-Chief at the Armed Forces Officers Mess slated for Tuesday, May 23; the Valedictory Federal Executive Council Meeting at the Council Chambers inside the Presidential Villa on May 24; Public Lecture and Juma’at prayer at the National Mosque on May 26; Children’s Day Parade and Party on May 27 and an Inter-denominational Church Service at the National Christian Centre on May 28.

Also, the Inauguration Dinner/Gala Night at the State House Conference Centre is billed for May 28 while the inauguration/swearing-in of the president-elect and the vice president-elect will take place on May 29 accompanied by an inauguration parade at the Eagle Square.

There will also be a post-inauguration luncheon strictly for the President with his colleague Presidents, Heads of Government and guests at the State House Banquet Hall after the inauguration ceremony

The summit, scheduled for 13-15 December 2022, will take place in Washington DC, the US capital, according to a press statement released on Thursday.

According to the statement, Biden believes that U.S. collaboration with African leaders, as well as civil society, business, diaspora, women, and youth leaders, is essential to addressing these shared challenges.

The goal of this historic summit will be to build and expand vital political, economic, and strategic partnerships, as well as people-to-people dialogue, based on mutual interests and shared priorities in Africa.

The statement noted, “The summit’s agenda will be packed, including increasing sustainable food production, strengthening health systems, providing humanitarian assistance, responding to the climate crisis, reinforcing democracy and human rights, boosting U.S.-African trade, advancing peace and security, and even enhancing space research and cooperation.”

According to U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Mary Leonard, the upcoming summit presents opportunities to deepen U.S.-Nigeria bilateral ties on multiple levels.

Leonard said, “We look forward not only to the Nigerian government’s robust participation in the summit, but also to hearing the views of all stakeholders in Nigeria’s promising future, including independent voices from the private sector, civil society, young people, women, and all those who are working to build a strong and inclusive democracy.”

The summit is also an opportunity for the United States and the American people to reiterate their profound and enduring interest in engaging with Africa as a whole.

The event, dubbed “the United We Stand Summit,” will highlight “the corrosive effects of hate-fueled violence on our democracy and public safety,” the White House said in a statement.

The statement cited a deadly racist attack on a Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015, a mass shooting targeting Latinos in El Paso, Texas, in 2019, and another gun massacre, this time targeting African Americans, in Buffalo, New York, in May this year, as the kind of “hateful attacks” threatening the nation.

The summit comes just eight weeks ahead of midterm elections in which Republicans are seeking to take control of Congress.

It also comes just two weeks after Biden delivered a fiery speech denouncing the “extreme ideology” of former president Donald Trump, whose supporters overran the Capitol to try to overturn the 2020 election and who continues to promote far-right conspiracy theories.

The aid package, which comes as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meets with allies at NATO, is the 12th U.S. security assistance installment for Ukraine since the start of the war.

Since Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the Biden administration has deployed more than 100,000 U.S. troops to NATO-member countries and authorized $5.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine.

“This morning, I spoke with President Zelenskyy to discuss Russia’s brutal and ongoing war against Ukraine. I reaffirmed my commitment that the United States will stand by Ukraine as it defends its democracy and support its sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of unprovoked Russian aggression,” Biden wrote in a statement.

Biden also announced an additional $225 million in humanitarian assistance for Ukraine to address needs like safe drinking water, critical medical supplies, food and cash for families to purchase essential items.

The Pentagon said that the latest supply of weapons for Kyiv, the 12th such installment, is valued at $350 million and includes:

-18 155 mm howitzers
-36,000 rounds of 155 mm ammunition
-18 tactical vehicles to tow 155 mm howitzers
-Ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HMARS
-4 tactical vehicles to recover equipment and spare parts.

The U.S. will also provide Ukraine with two Harpoon coastal defense systems, thousands of secure radios, night vision and thermal devices along with funding for training and maintenance support. That aid is collectively valued at $650 million.

According to Biden, this is as witnessed by Russian bombardments of civilian targets such as schools, hospitals, daycare centres and museums.

“I believe what Putin is attempting to do is to eliminate the identity of Ukraine.

“He can’t occupy it, but he can try to destroy its identity,’’ Biden said in Tokyo.

Biden said “Putin must pay a dear price for his barbarism in Ukraine,’’ in order to deter others from taking similar action, in reference to military tensions around Taiwan.

He was speaking at a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida

The Pentagon said the newest round of US support will include 72 155mm howitzers, 72 armored vehicles to tow them, 144,000 rounds of ammunition, and more than 120 “Phoenix Ghost” tactical drones recently developed by the US Air Force specifically to address Ukraine’s needs.

Biden said the new package was tailored to help Ukraine’s forces meet the emerging Russian offensive in the country’s east, which he said would be a different kind of fight than that in the north around Kyiv, where Ukrainian forces successfully beat Russian forces back in the first six weeks of the war.

“We’re in a critical window now… where they’re going to set the stage for the next phase of this war. And the United States and our allies and partners are moving as fast as possible to continue to provide Ukraine… the weapons their forces need to defend their nation,” the president said.

Biden also announced that Russia-affiliated ships would be banned from US ports, and that the US Treasury was putting up a fresh $500 million for Ukraine’s government so it can pay salaries and pensions and provide services.

He said unity between the US and allies in support of Ukraine is sending “an unmistakable message” to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“He will never succeed in dominating and occupying all of Ukraine. That will not happen,” Biden said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has pushed strongly for more and heavier weaponry, said in a tweet that he was grateful for Biden’s announcement.

“This help is needed today more than ever! It saves the lives of our defenders of democracy and freedom and brings us closer to restoring peace” in Ukraine, he said.

– Long-range artillery -At the Pentagon, Spokesman John Kirby said that Ukrainian troops were already being trained on the M777 howitzers and that the some of the new equipment would be on its way for delivery to the embattled country by this weekend.

Combined with 18 howitzers announced for Ukraine last week, the new artillery would be enough to equip five battalions, Kirby said, noting that both sides are preparing for a battle driven by long-range artillery fire.

In their training on the howitzers, Ukrainian forces “are very happy with the performance of the system and they’re learning it quickly,” said Kirby.

The new drones, he indicated, will act as both surveillance and “loitering” attack drones, which can hover over a target and either drop munitions or themselves crash into a target and explode at the most opportune moment.

“We are going to continue to utilize all available tools to support Ukraine’s armed forces in the face of Russian aggression,” he said.

$4 billion in defense assistance -The new package follows $800 million in military assistance announced by the White House last week, taking to $4 billion the amount the US has put up in arms and supplies for Ukraine’s forces since the start of the Biden administration in January 2021.

Numerous allies in Europe have also supplied Ukraine with weapons and military supplies.

Biden pledged that US military aid for Kyiv will not dry up, and said he was preparing to ask Congress for more funds “to keep weapons and ammunition flowing without interruption.”

He called on allies to continue their support.

“We have the capacity to do this for a long time. The question is, are we going to maintain the support of the international community to keep the pressure on Putin” and keep enforcing tough sanctions on Russia, he said.

“The most important thing is maintain unity,” he said

Lynching is murder by a mob with no due process or rule of law. Across the US, thousands of people, mainly African Americans, were lynched by white mobs, often by hanging or torture, in the 19th and 20th Centuries.

About 4,400 African Americans were lynched between 1877 and 1950, according to the Equal Justice Initiative. Those who participated in lynchings were often celebrated and acted with impunity.

Joe Biden on Tuesday, March 29  signed legislation that designates lynching as a federal hate crime.

The Emmett Till Antilynching Act is named for the black teenager whose brutal murder in Mississippi in 1955 helped spark the civil rights movement against lynching.

Perpetrators of a lynching – death or injury resulting from a hate crime – will now face up to 30 years in jail.

After signing the law, Biden said: “Thank you for never giving up, never ever giving up.

“Lynching was pure terror to enforce the lie that not everyone, not everyone, belongs in America, not everyone is created equal.”

He added: “Racial hate isn’t an old problem – it’s a persistent problem. Hate never goes away. It only hides.”

The bill was passed unanimously in the Senate earlier in March. The House had voted overwhelmingly in support of the legislation last month. Three Republicans voted no: Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Chip Roy of Texas and Andrew Clyde of Georgia. They argued that it was already a hate crime to lynch people in the US.

Many racial justice advocates have described the death of Floyd, as well as the murder of Ahmaud Arbery – who was hunted down and shot by three white men in Georgia in 2020 – as modern-day lynchings, and following the passing of the anti-lynching bill, both deaths have been credited as modern day influences.