KANSAS, January 24 - TOPEKA – (January 24, 2023) - Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach is suing the Biden administration over a new U.S. Department of Homeland Security program that unlawfully creates a de facto path the citizenship for hundreds of thousands of aliens.

“The Biden administration is once again shattering federal law in its effort to open our borders to as many illegal aliens as possible,” Kobach said. “The executive branch does not have the authority to redefine what immigration parole means. Kansas will stand firm against such illegal actions.”

The Texas Attorney General’s Office is leading the legal battle. Kansas and 18 other states joined the lawsuit.

Contrary to existing law, the program creates a pathway for participants to apply from their home country and gain lawful status to enter and stay in the U.S. for up to two years or longer. The DHS rule seeks to establish a new visa system allowing up to 360,000 aliens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to be “paroled” into the United States every year. Congress has only authorized parole for foreign aliens who meet very specific stands that have not been met in this instance.

The Biden administration also instituted this program without engaging in the usual notice and comment rulemaking process required by law. This constitutes yet another episode in which the administration has abused its executive authority in furtherance of its apparent objective for immigration policy: open borders and amnesty for all.

Kobach said every state in the nation, especially Border States, are being crushed by the impacts of illegal immigration, which has only worsened under the Biden administration’s disregard for the rule of law and ramifications of the president’s ill-conceived policies. The result has been increased violence on streets, increased drug trafficking, and overwhelming demand for government and community services that is exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.

“This unlawful amnesty program will only invite hundreds of thousands of immigrants to flood our border and make this crisis even worse,” Kobach said.

A copy of the lawsuit is available at https://bit.ly/3R4aNIE.