The attorneys general of 20 United States states, including Florida and Texas, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the program of the Government of President Joe Biden to grant 30,000 humanitarian visas to migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti.
The states that sued were Texas, Florida, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The lawsuit seeks a federal judge to block the humanitarian parole program for citizens of Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua with a sponsor, implemented with the objective of stopping the crisis on the border.
WHY DID THEY SUBMIT THE LAWSUIT?
In their complaint, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the plaintiffs argue that this plan will allow the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants to areas of the United States that are already “overburdened.”
And they stressed that with this initiative the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is abusing its authority to grant humanitarian permits.
In the opinion of those who undertook the action, the federal government’s plan should be declared illegal because with it the defendants have exceeded their authority to grant this type of visa, and, furthermore, they have not taken into account whether there is the capacity to expel the program beneficiaries after the two-year permit to be in the United States is exhausted.
The lawsuit is directed against the DHS and its head, Alejandro Mayorkas, as well as against the federal agencies in charge of ensuring border security and regulating the migratory flow and those responsible.
The main officials of the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Citizenship, the Border Protection Patrol and the ICE immigration police appear to be sued.
“We were clearly expecting a lawsuit, but it’s ironic because the complaint is that the border is out of control, and this is a good program that could resolve the crisis at the border more effectively,” says attorney Joseph A. Malouf.
“The conservative groups want to limit this parole program, which must be of an exceptional nature and on a case-by-case basis, and which should have been made transparent through a process of analysis and discussion, before being implemented,” says the lawyer. Santiago Alpizar.
“And now the judge has to, essentially, study the case, find out whether or not there are humanitarian reasons, which there are in this case. We know that’s the main reason. And also if this is something for the public benefit. And I think it is, too, compared to people entering the border illegally,” says Malouf.
The lawsuit argues that Florida would suffer billions of dollars in damage from this program, as well as significant state memories, such as public education, health care. But the lawyers insist that there is the financial role of the sponsor.
“The public charge is going to be eliminated, and that benefits the country; it also benefits having the labor force, the workers that are needed now,” says Malouf.
But the Florida Attorney General says the humanitarian parole program is in direct violation of federal law and has said the president’s executive actions have been excessive.
“From day one we saw a series of executive orders and rollbacks of programs that were in place to secure the border,” Moody says.
Now, legal experts recommend patience and vigilance. “Continue, without pause, but also without haste, the ways to make requests through this program, which are relatively simple,” says Alpízar.
With information from EFE