By Rebecca Santana - Associated Press
Texas has filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden's administration in a bid to scrap a recently enforced asylum-related rule, arguing that the mobile phone app migrants use to schedule appointments at the border to enter the U.S. encourages illegal immigration.
Tuesday's lawsuit is the latest legal challenge to attack different aspects of the federal government's plan to deal with immigration after the end of Title 42.
In the complaint, Texas argues that the asylum rule encourages the use of the application — CBP One — so that migrants who do not have the proper documentation schedule an appointment and can present themselves at a port of entry to the United States.
Two women react after being chosen by U.S. Border Patrol agents for processing at the border with Mexico, Friday, May 12, 2023.
Texas says Washington is basically encouraging people to come to the U.S. even if they don't have the legal grounds to stay.
"The Biden administration deliberately designed this app with the goal of illegally pre-approving more aliens to enter the country, and to go wherever they please once they arrive," Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a news release.
The complaint was filed in the Western District of Texas.
Although the lawsuit revolves around enforcement, it appears to be focused on dismissing the administration's entire asylum plan. The rule went into effect after Title 42 expired on May 11. The order makes it extremely difficult for migrants who traveled to the southern border if they first do not apply for protection in a country they have passed through on their way to the United States or if they do not apply through the application.
The wave of migrants seeking asylum overwhelms local governments in the U.S.
May 22, 202301:57
The use of the app is a key part of the government's plan to create a more orderly system at the border, where migrants must schedule an appointment in advance. But when the app launched in January, it came under heavy criticism because it presented technological problems and the fact that demand has since far exceeded the dates available for appointments. Migrants can schedule appointments for a particular port of entry, five of which are in Texas.
[Federal judge bars Biden administration from releasing border-crossing migrants without appointments]
Texas argues that under federal law, people who enter the country illegally — with rare exceptions — should be deported, but that the app does not verify whether migrants who schedule appointments would be eligible for exceptions. The state argues that, therefore, the Biden administration's use of the app essentially encourages people to come to the United States even if they are not eligible.
Texas also argues that it has to face a financial burden for migrants who enter the country for issues such as health care or education.
The new asylum-related rule has also come under fire from immigrant rights groups, who say the U.S. has an obligation to offer asylum to those in urgent need. Those groups have filed a lawsuit in which they also seek to dismiss the measure.
Texas is also part of a complaint accusing the federal government of exceeding its authority by allowing up to 360,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter the United States each year with a parole.
