Texas Sues to Block End of COVID Expulsions

April 22, 2022

IRLI represents state in lawsuit to stop new border tsunami

WASHINGTON—Following Texas’s victory in its lawsuit against the Biden administration’s exceptions to its policy, established by the Trump administration, of expelling migrants at the border to prevent the further introduction of COVID-19 into the country, the administration recently announced that it would end COVID expulsions entirely next month. Accordingly, Texas—represented as in the earlier suit by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) as Outside Counsel—has brought suit to stop that termination and keep the expulsions going.

In the complaint filed today, Texas and IRLI show that the administration failed to follow the law, which requires public notice and comment, when it announced the termination, and also did not employ reasoned decision-making in that termination. Unlike the mask mandates and mass vaccinations the administration still supports, keeping unlawful border crossers out of the country is guaranteed to prevent the further introduction and spread of COVID into the United States.

“If this termination of health-based expulsions is sustained in court, the already gigantic and unmanageable numbers of illegal border crossers will likely double, making the border crisis even more acute,” said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. “The legal grounds we demonstrate for enjoining this termination are sound, and we hope the court acts swiftly to protect the country from this latest extreme act of a lawless administration.”

The case is Texas v. Walensky, No. 6:22-cv-13 (S.D. Tex.).