The Texas Attorney General’s office announced a lawsuit against the Biden administration Friday over its 100-day deportation freeze, arguing it is a violation of a last-minute agreement struck with President Donald Trump that mandated that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) consult the state first.
“In one of its first of dozens of steps that harm Texas and the nation as a whole, the Biden administration directed DHS to violate federal immigration law and breach an agreement to consult and cooperate with Texas on that law. Our state defends the largest section of the southern border in the nation. Failure to properly enforce the law will directly and immediately endanger our citizens and law enforcement personnel,” Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. “DHS itself has previously acknowledged that such a freeze on deportations will cause concrete injuries to Texas. I am confident that these unlawful and perilous actions cannot stand. The rule of law and security of our citizens must prevail.”
I told @DHSgov and @JoeBiden last night to rescind its deportation freeze, which is unconstitutional, illegal, and bad for Texas and the nation.
They didn’t budge.
So #Texas is bringing them to court. Here’s our lawsuit: https://t.co/oR2cfG85Bz
— Texas Attorney General (@TXAG) January 22, 2021
The lawsuit marks the first filed against the Biden administration over its immigration policies just two days after the new president took office.
By Friday afternoon, Biden had signed 18 executive orders since his swearing-in on Wednesday, aggressively pursuing a partisan, progressive agenda by shattering norms and embracing divisive, left-wing social policy. Sweeping immigration changes have marked a focal point of that agenda, as Biden has reinstated Obama-era protections for undocumented immigrants and brought a halt to construction of the border wall.
