Texas Scorecard by Emily Medeiros February 9, 2024
A federal judge said Texas has grounds to sue due to the state’s increased costs for border security and related services.A federal judge has denied the Biden administration’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that challenges President Joe Biden’s asylum rule, which has worsened illegal crossings at the Texas-Mexico border.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, appointed by former President Donald Trump, stated in his order that Texas has grounds to sue because the state has faced increased costs for border security and other services as a result of the border crisis.
“Worse still, Plaintiff’s potential harm is amplified ‘because of the ongoing crisis at the border’ — a crisis forcing Plaintiff to spend ‘more on border security than ever before,’” wrote Kacsmaryk.
The July 2022 Legislative Budget Board reported that Plaintiff “appropriated $800 million for border security” in the 2018–19 legislative session, “$800.6 million” in 2020–21, and “$2.926 billion” in the most recent session. And similar increases have been necessary to meet the requisite pressures on “criminal justice, public safety, state health services, the Military Department, court administration, and the Department of Motor Vehicles.”Paxton first filed the lawsuit in April 2022, after the Biden administration adopted a new rule to speed up asylum processing and deportations.
Paxton argued that the rule erroneously shifts the powers of immigration judges to asylum officers, which violates the Appointments Clause in Article 2, Section 2, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution.
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/state/court-denies-biden-administrations-effort-to-dismiss-texas-lawsuit-against-asylum-rule/
