Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a lawsuit against the Biden Administration on Tuesday to reinstate the Migrant Protection Protocols at the border.
The Migrant Protection Protocols were enacted by President Trump in 2019 and apply "to aliens who have no legal entitlement to enter the United States but who depart from a third country and transit through Mexico to reach the United States land border."
These protocols restrict the ability of immigrants who entered the country illegally to remain in the United States during immigration proceedings.
According to the Texas Attorney General's office, the protocols reduce the burden shouldered by state and federal agencies tasked with protecting the border.
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The lawsuit argues that the Biden Administration's halting of the Migrant Protection Protocols violated the Administrative Procedure Act, alleging that it was an arbitrary and capricious agency action.
"President Biden could immediately remedy the influx of crime pouring across our border by reinstating the Migrant Protection Protocols," Attorney General Paxton said. "Dangerous criminals are taking advantage of the lapse in law enforcement and it's resulting in human trafficking, smuggling, a plethora of violent crimes, and a massive, unprecedented burden on state and federal programs for which taxpayers must foot the bill. We cannot allow this lawlessness to destroy our communities any longer. President Biden must act."
