JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – In an effort to enforce the laws as written, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and 12 other states moved for emergency relief from the Biden Administration’s unlawful attempt to further open the southern border. This week, not only did President Biden allow Title 42 to expire, but he followed up with a new program to release potentially thousands of illegal immigrants into the United States each day. Attorney General Bailey’s motion seeks a court order to force the Biden Administration not to implement this illegal program. He filed the motion in his existing lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) for the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the southern border.
“As Attorney General, I will enforce the laws as written, which includes ensuring that the Biden Administration cannot create unlawful immigration programs without the express permission of Congress,” said Attorney General Bailey. “President Biden’s immigration policy is so egregious that we can’t even finish one lawsuit before needing to amend it to address something else. The Constitution is clear: the President is tasked with securing our border. I am working to force President Biden to do so.”
The attorneys general assert that the latest action by the Biden Administration unlawfully exceeds its authority, referring to “a new program granting en masse parole into the United States to illegal aliens arriving at the Southwest Border, again without the case-by-case showing of individualized urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit required by Congress. More, these illegal aliens will not even have removal proceedings begun against them through the issuance of a Notice to Appear at an immigration-court setting. Rather, they are released into the United States after giving a mailing address and a promise to either appear at an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility within 60 days to request a Notice to Appear or to request one by mail.”
The attorneys general argue that the plan laid out by the federal government in a memo on May 10 would irreparably harm the states, “flooding them with yet more illegal aliens to add to the educational expenses, unemployment benefits, costs of incarceration, emergency Medicaid, and other costs they already bear as the result of Defendants’ [Joe Biden’s] unlawful releases.”
The states ask the Court for the chance to amend their original complaint to reflect the federal government’s latest irresponsible handling of the southern border. They also ask for an order stopping the Biden Administration from opening the border.
General Bailey’s lawsuit also addresses DHS’ program that would establish a new visa system that would allow for up to 360,000 aliens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to be “paroled” into the United States every year. Parole allows noncitizens to physically enter and remain in the United States even though they do not have a legal basis for being admitted.
Although Congress authorized a limited parole power for foreign aliens who meet very specific and stringent standards, the Biden Administration’s new program does not meet these standards. Even worse, contrary to existing law, the program creates a pathway for program participants to apply from their home country and gain lawful status to enter and stay in the U.S. for up to two years, or even longer.
The Biden Administration instituted this program without engaging in the usual notice and comment rulemaking process required by law. This program is another instance of the Biden Administration abusing its executive authority to further its dangerous open borders agenda at the expense of the states and their taxpayers.
The matter is set for trial on June 15.