In his lawsuit, Paxton asked a court to compel the Biden administration to reinstate former President Donald Trump’s “Return to Mexico” program.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed his eighth lawsuit against the Biden administration, claiming that the White House’s new immigration rules encourage the spread of novel coronavirus along the U.S.-Mexico border.
On Thursday, Paxton released a statement in which he said that President Joe Biden’s decision to permit asylum-seeking migrants into the United States “creates an undeniable crisis along our southern border.”
“This reckless policy change stifles the reopening of the Texas economy at a time when businesses need it the most and when our children need to get back to in-person learning as soon as possible,” Paxton said. “Law and order must be immediately upheld and enforced to ensure the safety of our communities and the reopening of the strongest economy of the country.”
In his lawsuit, Paxton alleges that the Biden administration’s approach towards asylum-seekers and other undocumented migrants violates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 guidelines.
“Instead of using the CDC’s authority to prevent the introduction of covered aliens into the United States during a pandemic, Defendants have chosen to take courses of action that have resulted in the release of tens of thousands of aliens into Texas and the United States,” the lawsuit says. “Absent this Court’s intervention, such releases will continue for the foreseeable future.”
Furthermore, Paxton says that Biden’s immigration policy runs afoul of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which requires the detention of arriving, undocumented immigrants who may transmit disease of public health significance.
Paxton’s lawsuit asks a federal judge to order that migrants be expelled from the country, and to compel the White House to reinstate former President Donald Trump’s “Return to Mexico” program.
“More Texans will be exposed to COVID-19, more Texans will contract COVID-19, more Texans will die from COVID-19, and Texas will incur significant costs in terms of health care and law enforcement resources,” Paxton’s lawsuit states.
Fox News notes that the Biden administration has defended its return to pre-Trump policies; the White House observed that the United States-Mexico border remains closed to most non-essential traffic, and blames former President Donald Trump for dismantling pre-existing, legal pathways for asylum-seekers at regular entry points.
Paxton, adds Fox News, has filed over a half-dozen other lawsuits against the White House since President Joe Biden took office in January. The Texas Attorney General has, among other things, sued the administration over procedures to reduce deportations, as well as Washington’s recission of permits for the Keystone XL project.
Sources
Texas AG sues Biden administration over COVID-19 risk at southern border amid migrant surge
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