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Texas and 19 other states with Republican governors filed a lawsuit against the Administration of Joe Biden on Tuesday, seeking to block a new program from immigration which allows up to 30,000 immigrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua to enter the United States by air each month, but also applies the Title 42 to immigrants from those four countries who try to enter the United States through the land border with Mexico.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the administration, alleging that the new immigration program for those four countries that President Biden announced last month is illegal.
Texas, which leads the 20-state coalition, filed the lawsuit in federal district court in Victoria, according to the Texas Tribune.
Last month, Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced a parole program that would allow 30,000 people per month to legally enter the US from the four countries if they apply from their home countries, they pass a background check and prove they have a financial sponsor in the United States.
If approved, they can stay in the country for up to two years and obtain a work permit. Once in the country, they could apply for asylum.
As part of the plan, the Biden administration also began using the emergency health order known as Title 42 to expel the same number of migrants from those four countries to Mexico if they try to enter the US illegally.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Mexico has agreed to accept up to 30,000 migrants a month from those countries under Title 42.
What does the lawsuit say?
The lawsuit says the immigration parole program was modeled after the same program that allowed Ukrainians to enter the United States after the Russian invasion in February 2022. But this latest probation program does not meet the criteria to be legalthe lawsuit claims, effectively authorizing thousands of immigrants to obtain a path to citizenship.
Paxton’s lawsuit alleges that the Biden administration’s plan violates the precepts of immigration parole.
“The probation program established by the Department fails on every one of the three limiting factors of the law. It is not on a case-by-case basis, it is not for urgent humanitarian reasons, and it does not further any significant public benefit,” the lawsuit says.
“Every state in the United States, especially border states like Texas, are being crushed by the impacts of illegal immigration,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement.
“Biden’s open borders agenda has created a humanitarian crisis that is increasing crime and violence on our streets, overwhelming local communities, and worsening the opioid crisis. This illegal amnesty program, which will invite hundreds of thousands of aliens into the United States every year, will only make this immigration crisis dramatically worse,” Paxton said.
The lawsuit can be read here.
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