Fitch joins lawsuit opposing new policy on immigration citizenship pathways

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, along with 19 states, filed a lawsuit to oppose the Department of Homeland Security’s new program that unlawfully creates a pathway to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.

“At a time when our nation is facing unprecedented levels of illegal migration, our government should be focused on securing the border,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch. “Instead, the Biden Administration unlawfully created a program that rewards and incentivizes hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants. This will just add to the mess that the Administration has already created at the border.”

The lawsuit states, “The Department of Homeland Security (DHS or Department), under the false pretense of preventing aliens from unlawfully crossing the border between the ports of entry, has effectively created a new visa program—without the formalities of legislation from Congress—by announcing that it will permit up to 360,000 aliens annually from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to be ‘paroled’ into the United States for two years or longer and with eligibility for employment authorization.”

Congress has repeatedly curtailed the parole power and by federal statute requires it be used “only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.” 8 U.S.C. §1182(d)(5)(A). In addition to violating these requirements set forth by Congress, the Biden Administration bypassed the usual notice and comment rulemaking process that Congress instituted to protect the people from runaway agency action.

“The Administration’s new program violates limitations imposed by Congress and creates a de facto visa program that makes our border problems even worse than they are now,” said Fitch. “This is bad policy and bad policymaking.”A copy of the entire lawsuit with the list of states involved is available here.