A federal judge in a surprising ruling has dismissed a Texas lawsuit against a Biden administration policy that allows migrants of certain nationalities to fly to the United States if they have US sponsors.
The lawsuit focused on a parole program that permits migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to apply to come to the US and, if approved, temporarily live in the country. The policy allows up to 30,000 migrants from those four countries to come to the US each month, and since its launch more than a year ago, over 386,000 people of those nationalities have arrived in the US.
Officials have cited the policy for driving down border crossings of those nationalities by providing a legal pathway to the country. Republicans, however, have slammed the Biden administration’s use of parole, arguing that officials are using the authority too broadly as they’ve ramped up their attacks in recent months on President Joe Biden’s broader immigration agenda.
US District Judge Drew B. Tipton, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, on Friday rejected the challenge filed early last year by Texas, along with other Republican-led states, for failing to establish how they were hurt by the program.
The states argued that the Biden administration didn’t go through a notice and comment rulemaking process before instituting the rule and that the policy exceeds the administration’s authority.
Texas further argued that the program would incur “significant financial costs” for the state as it would have to provide services such as “driver licenses, healthcare, education, as well as enforcement and correctional services.”
But Tipton, who did not consider the merits of the case in his dismissal, said that Texas had not shown that it had standing to bring the suit. The…
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