FIRST ON FOX: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the Biden administration over a newly-implemented asylum rule, arguing that the use of a controversial CBP One application is being used to circumvent federal law.
The lawsuit targets a rule that was proposed earlier this year, and went into effect as the Title 42 public health order ended earlier this month. The rule presumes migrants to be ineligible for asylum if they have entered illegally and have failed to claim asylum in a country through which they have already traveled.
While the rule has received criticism from left-wing activists, who say the rule limits who can claim asylum in the U.S., it has also seen criticism from conservatives for the connected use of the CBP One app — which allows migrants to make appointments at a port of entry to be processed.
In a statement, Paxton said the administration’s goal with the application is “illegally pre-approving more foreign aliens to enter the country and go where they please once they arrive.”
“Joe Biden, Alejandro Mayorkas, and the entire Biden Administration have prioritized creating and protecting new ways for illegal aliens to stream into this country, no matter the cost or consequence to struggling American citizens,” he said.
BIDEN ADMIN ‘ENCOURAGED’ BY LOWER POST-TITLE 42 NUMBERS, BUT URGES CAUTION FOR WEEKS AHEAD
“The Biden Administration’s attempt to manage the southern border by app does not meet even the lowest expectation of competency and runs afoul of the laws Congress passed to regulate immigration, and the Final Rule should be enjoined,” it say.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference CPAC held at the Hilton Anatole on July 11, 2021 in Dallas, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
In a statement on Friday, DHS said that since the end of Title 42 on May 11, an average of 1,070 migrants a day have presented to be processed in their appointments. The top three nationalities are Haiti, Mexico and Venezuela.
The lawsuit marks the latest in a number of high-profile cases against the administration. Florida and Texas have sued in separate cases over the administration’s “parole with conditions” policy — which saw thousands of migrants released into the U.S. without court dates due to overcrowding.