Texas asked a federal judge on Monday to block a Biden administration overhaul of asylum processing at the border just days before the rule is set to take effect, a move the Justice Department criticized as “gamesmanship.”
The Biden administration wants more time to defend the new rule that is set to start phasing in on May 31, in the latest legal clash with a Republican-led state over changes to immigration policies.
The rule, finalized in late March, would allow asylum officers to approve migrants’ claims for protection after they cross the border, rather than sending all asylum-seekers into the backlogged immigration court system for judges to approve their claims.