Texas sues to block Biden DHS rule allowing more asylum-seekers to remain in US

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The state of Texas is seeking a permanent block for a new Biden administration rule that allows more asylum seekers to avoid deportation at the border, according to a Thursday lawsuit obtained by Fox News Digital.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit Thursday, naming Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and President Biden, among others, as defendants. 

The suit seeks to block a DHS policy that seeks to change the processing system for immigrants who claim "credible fear" of persecution in their home countries. Current law states that immigration judges handle such cases, but the DHS rule, which would take effect May 29, transfers that authority to asylum officers.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, right, and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt talk to reporters after the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in their case about Title 42 on April 26, 2022, in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The policy would also give asylum officers authority to parole – otherwise known as release – asylum seekers into the U.S. if they deem that detaining the migrant during the proceedings is "impracticable."

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"The Interim Rule transfers significant authority from immigration judges to asylum officers, grants those asylum officers significant additional authority, limits immigration-judge review to denials of applications, and upends the entire adjudicatory system to the benefit of aliens," the suit reads.

Texas argues this policy change will result in more migrants being released into the Texas, costing the state and its residents tens of millions of dollars. Paxton filed the lawsuit to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

The lawsuit comes one day after Mayorkas claimed before Congress that the Biden administration has "effectively managed" the ongoing border crisis.

The crisis at the border appears far from managed, however, as estimates from Biden's administration say DHS is anticipating the rate of border encounters to spike to 18,000 per day in the near future. The administration sources the spike to its plan to end Title 42, a Trump-era COVID-19 restriction allowing for the speedy deportation of most migrants.

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While a federal judge in Louisiana has blocked Biden's latest attempt to end Title 42 deportations, it remains an end goal for the administration.