Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton celebrated a federal court’s dismissal of his immigration lawsuit against the Biden administration as a win, saying the result will restore immigration law.
Paxton touted the Thursday dismissal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas as a legal victory, arguing that the suit was no longer necessary because “the object of all [his] claims, the 100-day pause on the removal of aliens already subject to a final order of removal, previously enjoined by the Court, has expired.”
“This is a big win for Texas and the nation. It sends a clear message to the Biden Administration that they will not be able to violate federal immigration law and endanger the lives of Texans. This Administration’s failed policies have only exacerbated the crisis at our southern border, and further exhausted the regular duties of our law enforcement officers,” Paxton said in a statement.
STEPHEN MILLER GROUP AND TEXAS SUE BIDEN TO STOP ACCEPTING MIGRANT CHILDREN AT BORDER
Paxton filed the lawsuit two days after President Joe Biden assumed office and introduced his plan to “pause removals for certain noncitizens ordered deported to ensure we have a fair and effective immigration enforcement system focused on protecting national security, border security, and public safety” for 100 days.
Texas’s Jan. 22 lawsuit argued that the pause “directed DHS to violate federal immigration law and breach an agreement to consult and cooperate with Texas on that law.”
“Our state defends the largest section of the southern border in the nation. Failure to properly enforce the law will directly and immediately endanger our citizens and law enforcement personnel,” Paxton said at the time. “DHS itself has previously acknowledged that such a freeze on deportations will cause concrete injuries to Texas. I am confident that these unlawful and perilous actions cannot stand. The rule of law and security of our citizens must prevail.”
The U.S. is facing an unprecedented surge of migrants, particularly unaccompanied minors, crossing the southern border.
More than 178,000 migrants were encountered at the southwestern border in April, according to data from Customs and Border Protection, and reports indicate that an unprecedented 117,000 migrant children will enter the U.S. by the end of 2021. The most recent border surge saw the arrival of 80,000 unaccompanied minors at the southern border in 2019.
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Vice President Kamala Harris, who was given a lead role in addressing the substantial uptick in migrants, will travel to the Northern Triangle region in Central America, including stops in Mexico and Guatemala, to discuss the root causes of the surge, she said. She had a virtual conversation on May 7 with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador about the “root causes of migration.”
Biden has indicated that he plans to visit the border, but specific travel plans have not been announced.
