A group of 20 Republican-led states is suing the Biden administration over a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program that allows a certain number of migrants to enter the United States from select countries.
The group, led by Texas, says that the “Department of Homeland Security (DHS or Department), under the false pretense of preventing aliens from unlawfully crossing the border between the ports of entry, has effectively created a new visa program— without the formalities of legislation from Congress—by announcing that it will permit up to 360,000 aliens annually from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to be ‘paroled’ into the United States for two years or longer and with eligibility for employment authorization.”
The group notes that the DHS’s “parole power is exceptionally limited, having been curtailed by Congress multiple times, and can be used ‘only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.’” However, “the Department’s new ‘parole’ program allows aliens in their home countries to obtain the benefit of being able to obtain advance authorization to enter the United States—despite no other basis inlaw for them doing so.”
“The parole program established by the Department fails each of the law’s three limiting factors,” they continue. “It is not case-by-case, is not for urgent humanitarian reasons, and advances no significant public benefit. Instead, it amounts to the creation of a new visa program that allows hundreds of thousands of aliens to enter the United States who otherwise have no basis for doing so. This flouts, rather than follows, the clear limits imposed by Congress.”
The group concludes by saying, “This Court should enjoin, declare unlawful, and set aside the Department’s lawless parole program.”
“Every state in America, especially border states like Texas, is being crushed by the impacts of illegal immigration,” Texas Attorney General Paxton in a press release announcing the lawsuit. “The Biden open borders agenda has created a humanitarian crisis that is increasing crime and violence in our streets, overwhelming local communities, and worsening the opioid crisis. This unlawful amnesty program, which will invite hundreds of thousands of aliens into the U.S. every year, will only make this immigration crisis drastically worse.”
