Todd Rokita, the attorney general of Indiana, is spearheading a lawsuit filed by 18 states against the Biden administration for how it has handled the border issue.
The Department of Homeland Security claims that this new policy, known as “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways,” aims to “expand secure and orderly pathways enabling migrants to legally enter the country.” The complaint explicitly targets this strategy. The Biden administration has struggled to control the enormous inflow at the southern border since the regulation was implemented after Title 42’s expiry in early May.
The complaint asserts that the policy, commonly known as the Circumvention Rule, “attempts to define the situation away by re-characterizing what would ordinarily be illegal crossings as ‘lawful paths,’” rather than attempting to resolve the border crisis.
Before charging that “it is a component of the Biden Administration’s larger effort to cover up what is really happening at the Southwest Border,” it also calls the Circumvention Rule “a halfway measure and a smoke screen” that has been “filled with loopholes.”
The complaint expressly alleges that the Circumvention Rule’s goal is to encourage “a growing number of migrants to utilize the CBP One app to make false asylum claims, while also avoiding the unfavorable perception of throngs of illegal aliens” amassing near the border.
“In a truly Bizarre twist, the U.S. government has presented this latest move as a tool to decrease illegal immigration,” Rokita stated in a press statement. “This new regulation would render it even simpler to enter the United States illegally.”
“We’re currently witnessing over 10,000 illegal border crossings happening within many 24-hour periods,” he said. “These are the biggest numbers ever, and a significant percentage of them are seasoned criminals including cartel members. We can’t stand this type of invasion for very long.”
Rokita is leading the campaign, while Tennessee, Florida, North Dakota, Alaska, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Virginia, Iowa, New Hampshire, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and Oklahoma have all joined the case.
According to a recent CBS News survey, 37% of Americans agree and 63% disapprove of the Biden administration’s management of the border.
