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A federal judge in Texas rejected a petition on Friday filed by Attorney General Ken Paxton against a Biden presidency immigration program that allows each time up to 360, 000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to officially migrate to the U. S.
U. S. District Judge Drew Tipton, a Trump presidency nominee in Victoria, wrote in his decision that Paxton’s business “have not proven that Texas has suffered an injury and therefore do not have position to keep this match”.
Tipton, who has recently ruled against the Biden administration in various immigration- related lawsuits, wrote in his opinion that he “does not tackle the lawfulness of the program” instead that Texas has no “established that it has standing” to sue.
Paxton — whose office led a coalition of 20 different states — filed the lawsuit in January 2023, against the Biden administration immediately after it announced the system.
Texas argued in its petition that the system harmed the position because refugees approved under the system qualify for state services such as health maintenance and public schooling. It’s one of over two dozen lawsuits that Texas has filed since January 2021 seeking to reverse the Biden administration’s immigration policy.
In court filings, lawyers representing the Biden administration said the program encourages would- be migrants to use a lawful way to enter the U. S. rather than crossing the border illegally. They also argued that Congress has given the executive branch the authority to implement such a program.
As of January — a year since the program was first announced — over 357, 000 people have been accepted into the program. According to the lawsuit, 13, 990 applicants who were accepted listed Texas as their destination. More than 2, 600 were children.
With a historically high number of people arriving at the U. S. Mexico border from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela — many of them crossing illegally — the Biden administration created the parole program to provide a safe and legal way for them to enter the U. S.
In order to be approved for the program, people need to apply from their home countries, pass a background check and prove they have a financial supporter in the U. S. If they’re approved, they can stay in the country for up to two years and get a work permit. Once in the country, they would be able to request asylum if they choose to, or return home after the two years.
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