BATON ROUGE, LA - Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry
is leading a coalition of 14 states suing the Biden administration over yet
another unlawful immigration rule (Asylum Rule) that largely removes federal
immigration judges from reviewing asylum claims and instead gives employees
within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unprecedented authority to
grant asylum to migrants outright. The new rule not only violates federal law
and bypasses Congress, it also drastically erodes asylum integrity safeguards.
"Biden continues to prioritize non-citizens over
American citizens he took an oath to protect," said Attorney General
Landry. "He is once again undermining the rule of law and jeopardizing the
safety and security of our country. This rule will make an already porous
border even easier for drugs, human traffickers, and sexual predators to
cross."
The Asylum Rule applies to new arrivals at U.S. borders
who are making asylum claims. Federal law requires that immigration judges
within the Department of Justice (DOJ) make the final determinations for
migrants’ asylum claims. However, under the new Asylum Rule, that power would
be largely transferred to DHS employees, which is a direct violation of federal
law. This would eliminate immigration judges from the review process in
most cases and replaces them with individuals that are far more susceptible to
political control within an administration, guaranteeing an increase in the
rate of false asylum claims being granted.
The coalition argues that Biden administration failed to
follow multiple laws and statutes to include the Immigration and Nationality
Act, the Homeland Security Act, Secure Fence Act of 2006 and the Administrative
Procedure Act. Furthermore, the Biden administration failed to analyze the
interaction between the Asylum Rule and its proposed termination of Title 42,
set to become effective on May 23, which will cause a massive increase in
illegal immigration and non-meritorious asylum claims. The Asylum Rule will go
into effect merely eight days later, causing an exponential increase in illegal
border crossings. The effect will be to stack a crisis upon a crisis.
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for
the Western District of Louisiana. Joining Attorney General Landry are
the Attorneys General of Arizona, Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho,
Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.
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The case is captioned Arizona, Louisiana, et al v. Garland,
No. 6:22-cv-1130 (W.D. La.). The State of
Louisiana is represented by Attorney General Jeff Landry, Solicitor General Liz
Murrill, and Deputy Solicitor Scott St. John.