Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit on Thursday challenging the Biden administration’s decision to relax asylum rules and allowing more foreign aliens to seek refuge in the United States.
In the lawsuit, filed in a U.S. District Court in Laredo, Texas, Paxton alleges the revised asylum rule issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in May violates federal immigration law and will place an unfair burden on Texas and other border states.
The rule effectively lifts the former Trump administration’s restrictions on who is eligible for asylum, allowing migrants to seek refuge in the U.S. regardless of their country of origin. It also eliminates the requirement that asylum seekers must first have their claim approved in another country before entering the U.S.
Paxton argued that the Biden administration’s rule change will significantly increase the influx of asylum seekers, putting additional strain on state and local social service programs.
“The Biden administration has issued a back-door rule to completely change the operation of the asylum system without congressional authorization,” Paxton said in a statement. “This change will invite a massive influx of illegal immigration into Texas and has already sparked a crisis at the southern border.”