A group of 20 Republican-led states urged a Texas federal court Tuesday to strike down a recent government program that allows migrants from certain countries to apply for temporary immigration status, in yet another suit against the administration’s immigration efforts.
Texas and other states argue in the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, that the Department of Homeland Security exceeded its legal authority when it rolled out the migration initiative.
The program, announced earlier this month, is the administration’s latest attempt to deter asylum-seekers from crossing the border without authorization. It would permit a combined 30,000 migrants per month from Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela, who have American sponsors, to apply to come to the U.S. for up to two years under a temporary status known as parole.
