Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, states, “No words can adequately describe the unmitigated catastrophe that Joe Biden has created.”
The Texas AG has recently taken legal action in order to impede the Department of Homeland Security’s release of foreign nationals without scheduled immigration court dates.
Several variations of the parole policy implemented by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have existed for nearly two years. A federal magistrate pronounced it and the “catch and release” policy unlawful on March 8 in a lawsuit filed against DHS by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.
On May 10, Chief of the Border Patrol Raul Ortiz announced that the agency would implement a comparable parole policy under a new name, prompting Moody to file suit again on May 11. She also requested that the court suspend the program and issued a 14-day temporary restraining order on the same day. The Florida hearing is currently set for May 19.
On Friday, Paxton also filed suit in the District Court of the Southern District of the Texas Victoria Division, challenging the same policy Moody did. He also requested a temporary restraining order from the court.
Paxton said there are no adequate words to describe the catastrophic situation Joe Biden has created on the southern border. He added that what the border states are witnessing is the systematic, deliberate, and intentional devastation of American border security in real time. There is absolutely no alternative explanation for Biden’s actions.
The number of daily border crossings is reaching record highs, and as Title 42 expired, the Biden Administration announced that they would release thousands of illegal immigrants daily without requiring a court date. Paxton believes that any American with a sane mind would believe this is lunacy. Biden’s effort to subject Texas communities to the costs and pandemonium of endless, out-of-control illegal immigration will not go unchallenged. Paxton stated that they are taking him to court to halt this unlawful policy.
Under Biden’s new program, illegal immigrants are not given a court date before they are released into the U.S.; the policy only requires them to provide a mailing address and a promise to appear at an ICE facility within 60 days. According to the policy, they may request an immigration court date when they arrive at the ICE facility on an unspecified date.
The 60-day deadline is not rigid, and unauthorized aliens are not required to appear in person. According to the policy, the timeframe can be prolonged for more than 60 days, and they can request a court date by mail. However, as reported by The Center Square, some foreign nationals released into the United States are given court dates beyond 2026.
DHS will likely defend itself against the Texas litigation, as it did in the Florida case. However, the federal Judge in Florida accepted none of the Biden administration’s arguments. He argued that the administration’s policies were analogous to a glaring “Come In, We’re Open” sign on the southern border. The administration’s argument that they must release individuals into the United States rather than process them for removal, he said, is “like a child who kills his parents and then seeks pity for being an orphan.”
The Florida Judge stated that it was difficult to take seriously the Defendants’ claim that they had to release more aliens into the country due to limited detention capacity, given that they chose not to use one of the tools provided by Congress in 1225(b)(2)(C) and continued to ask for less detention capacity as part of their prioritization of “alternatives to detention” over actual detention.
The Florida and Texas lawsuits come as a record number of people from over 171 countries crossed the southern border and the expiration of Title 42 (which expired on May 11). Due to the border crisis and the anticipated increase in border crossings due to the expiration of Title 42, many Texas counties and cities, as well as Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C., declared states of emergency.