TEXAS — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with attorneys general from seven other states, is again suing the Biden administration over Southern border policy.

What You Need To Know

  • Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has joined attorneys general from seven other states in suing the Biden administration over the Central American Minors Program

  • Created by President Barack Obama, halted by President Donald Trump and reinstated by President Joe Biden, the program allows some minors from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala to be reunited with family in the U.S.

  • In a statement, Paxton called the program “illegal” and “nothing but disaster”

  • According to Paxton, this marks the 20th lawsuit he has filed against Biden and the ninth concerning his border policy

The latest lawsuit involves the Central American Minors Program, an Obama-era program that former President Donald Trump halted and Biden restarted.

The program allows people under 21 years old from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala to be reunited with family in the U.S. without having to resort to human smuggling or other illegal means.

According to Paxton, this is the 20th lawsuit he has filed against Biden and the ninth concerning his border policy.

Paxton in a statement called the program “illegal” and “nothing but disaster.”

“The Biden Administration has sown nothing but disaster for our country through its illegal, unconstitutional immigration policies,” Attorney General Paxton said. “Biden’s latest round of flagrant law-breaking includes his Central American Minors Program, which has contributed significantly to many states being forced to take in even more aliens. My fellow attorneys general and I are suing to stop it.”

Joining Texas in suing over the program are Florida, Alaska, Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Montana.

Created by President Barack Obama in 2014, the program allows parents in the country legally to request refugee status for their children who show they’re in danger in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, where gang violence and poverty is widespread.

The Trump administration shut down CAM in 2017 during a series of executive orders tightening immigration controls. U.S. officials said Trump’s policies are designed to confront a surge of Central Americans seeking asylum and reduce claims that lack merit.

Families sued and a settlement was reached in 2019, with a U.S. judge in California ordering the government to resume processing those who had been approved for the CAM program when it was terminated. The judge said the government was causing harm by preventing the plaintiffs’ children from escaping danger.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.