The state of Texas is suing the Biden administration in an effort to do so Newly introduced asylum rule It was eliminated, saying the phone app immigrants use to schedule appointments at the border to request entry into the United States encourages illegal immigration.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday It is the latest legal outcry to attack various aspects of the administration’s immigration management plan in the wake of the end of the major pandemic era The immigration regulation is called Title 42.
In the lawsuit, Texas says the Asylum Act encourages the use of a mobile app — called CBP One — for immigrants without proper documentation to make appointments to come to a port of entry and seek admission to the United States.
Texas says the Biden administration is essentially encouraging people to come to the United States even though there is no legal basis for them to stay.
“The Biden administration intentionally conceived of this phone app with the goal of illegally pre-approving more foreign nationals to enter the country and go where they like once they arrive,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a press release.
The complaint was filed in the Western District of Texas.
While the lawsuit focuses on the phone app, it seeks to get rid of the entire asylum rule, It’s called circumvention of legal tracks. The rule went into effect when Title 42 expired on May 11. The rule makes it very difficult for migrants traveling to the southern border to obtain asylum if they do not first seek protection in a country they passed through before arriving in the United States or if they do not apply online through the application.
Using the app is a key part of the administration’s plans to create a more orderly system at the border where migrants make appointments ahead of time, but when the app was launched in January it was criticized for technological issues and because long-haul demand outstripped available spaces. Immigrants can schedule appointments at specific ports of entry — five of which are in Texas.
Texas says that under federal law, people who enter the country illegally must be expelled — with rare exceptions — but the app does not check whether immigrants seeking dates qualify for exceptions. So, the state says, the Biden administration’s use of the app is essentially encouraging people to come to the United States even if they don’t qualify. Texas also argues that it must pay for the financial burden of immigrants coming to the United States through things like health care or education.
The new asylum rule has also come under attack from human rights groups, who argue that the United States is obligated to provide asylum to those who need it most. They are suing to overturn the rule, too. Texas is also part of another lawsuit accusing the administration of exceeding its authority by allowing up to 360,000 people a year From Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter the United States under the authority of humanitarian parole.