AUSTIN – This week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a Texas legal response brief demanding that the Biden Administration enforce public health immigration law at the border. A United States District Court in Fort Worth heard oral arguments Tuesday. The State of Texas is asking the Court to impose a restraining order on the federal government to prevent it from continuing its illegal activities.
Under President Trump, the federal government used a group of laws known as Title 42 to swiftly evict undocumented immigrants at the border in order to preserve the public health of Americans and Texans amid the Covid pandemic. However, President Biden abandoned significant portions of Title 42 (and other related federal immigration laws), resulting in an explosion of undocumented immigration at the border and an exponential increase in the costs that Texans must bear in public resources. The Biden Administration persists in its conduct despite the prevalence of new waves and strains in Mexico and other countries, just as Texas is beginning to fully reopen.
“Title 42, when faithfully applied, was remarkably successful in expelling undocumented immigrants, protecting the public health of Americans, and preserving our limited public resources,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The Biden Administration has illegally abandoned their legal duties, resulting in a massive increase in undocumented immigration at the border, and in turn has forced Texas to bear additional massive costs and damages. The Court must intervene to stop this madness ”.
Attorney General Paxton has sued the Biden Administration on behalf of the State of Texas 11 times since Opening Day on January 20, 2021. Five of those 11 lawsuits are immigration related. This Title 42-Covid lawsuit is one of five.
A copy of the Texas response brief, written in conjunction with America First Legal and the Immigration Reform Law Institute, can be found here.
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