Eight States Sue Biden Administration over Reinstated Obama-Era Immigration Policy
January 30, 2022 | Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas
(The Center Square) – Eight states are suing the Biden administration claiming it is abusing an Obama-era immigration program that allows minors who entered the U.S. illegally to seek to bring in family members from their home countries.
The lawsuit alleges President Joe Biden challenging the Central American Minors (CAM) Refugee and Parole Program was filed by the state of Texas and includes as plaintiffs the states of Arkansas, Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Montana and Oklahoma.
The lawsuit is the ninth border/immigration-related lawsuit, and 20th lawsuit filed overall, against the Biden administration by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The CAM program provides certain minors who entered the U.S. illegally the ability to secure “protected status” instead of being deported. The status then enables them to petition the government to bring in extended family members from Honduras, El Salvador or Guatemala.
“There is no authority in federal law for this sort of program,” Paxton said, noting that Congress never authorized CAM. It was created under the Obama administration in late 2014 and terminated by the Trump administration in 2017.
The Biden administration reinstating it, the lawsuit argues, “usurps the power of Congress to dictate a national scheme of immigration laws and is contrary to the Immigration Naturalization Act.” (Excerpts from The Center Square)
