A coalition of 20 Republican states, led by Texas, filed a lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday against President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prevent it from expanding the “catch and release” of border crossers into the U.S.

The lawsuit challenges the Biden administration’s recent expansion of the parole program, whereby the administration will “allow up to 30,000 qualifying nationals per month” from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti to stay in the country and work while they await their immigration hearings.

As Breitbart News reported:

“Today, I’m announcing that my administration is going to expand the parole program for people not only from Venezuela, but from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti,” Biden told reporters at a White House press conference.

Biden claimed he has the power to raise immigration numbers because the Republicans have refused to vote for his mass immigration policies. “I’m left with only one choice — to act on my own, do as much as I can on my own to try to change the atmosphere,” Biden said.

The plan would use the soon-to-expire Title 42 border barrier to block illegal migration while also awarding 360,000 “parole” tickets that allow would-be migrants to work and live in the United States.

The GOP state attorneys general argued the parole program’s expansion goes far beyond what is authorized by statute and was unlawfully implemented in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

The complaint states:

The parole program established by the Department fails each of the law’s three limiting factors. It is not case-by-case, is not for urgent humanitarian reasons, and advances no significant public benefit. Instead, it amounts to the creation of a new visa program that allows hundreds of thousands of aliens to enter the United States who otherwise have no basis for doing so. This flouts, rather than follows, the clear limits imposed by Congress.

In establishing this unlawful program, the Department did not engage in notice-and-comment rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act, substituting instead its unilateral judgment to bring into the United States hundreds of thousands of aliens who otherwise have no other authority to enter.

Along with Texas, state attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming joined the lawsuit.

The states argue the expanded parole program would cause them to suffer irreparable harm due to the financial constraints the migrants would place on state governments.

“Texas spends millions of dollars each year on public education costs to educate illegal aliens, which puts a strain on its system for citizens and which costs are uncompensated from the federal government,” the complaint reads. “If the Defendants allow these new aliens into the United States in violation of federal law, then the harm will only grow over time.”

“This increase strains Texas’s resources and ability to provide essential services, such as emergency medical care, education, driver’s licenses, and other public safety services,” the complaint continues.

Some experts have warned that the parole expansion is simply a pretext for “mass amnesty.”

Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) spokesperson RJ Hauman called the parole expansion “one of the most egregious and unlawful abuses of humanitarian parole authority in the history of our nation.”

Hauman said:

The recently-expanded parole program is one of the most egregious and unlawful abuses of humanitarian parole authority in the history of our nation and another example of unconstitutional usurpation of power by a president who is hell-bent on ignoring or subverting immigration laws. The Biden administration has one goal in mind – allowing as many people as possible to enter the United States regardless of the impact on the American people and the integrity of our system.

“As the 20 states correctly note, the Biden administration’s parole program is not case-by-case, it is not for urgent humanitarian reasons, and there is no significant public benefit. It amounts to the creation of a brand new visa program, something only Congress has the power to do,” Hauman continued.

The case is Texas v. Department of Homeland Security, No. 6:23-cv-00007 in the United States District Court or the Southern District of Texas.