Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has accused the Biden administration of not following federal laws and “inviting” illegal migrants by changing policies meant to discourage them from entering the country.
Paxton’s comments come as a migrant caravan with almost 3,000 Haitians and Central Americans reportedly departed Tapachula, Mexico late last week and were heading towards the southern border, according to Mexican news reports and social media.
Speaking to Fox News Live, Paxton described the situation as “deja-vu.”
“The Biden administration is not doing what they need to do to stop this. As a matter of fact, they’re inviting it,” he said. “The border patrol is frustrated with having to deal with logistics and handling these families.”
Paxton said border agents are risking their lives but “are not encouraged to do their jobs … or protect the border. They’re not allowed to have the resources that they need.”
Led by Center for Human Dignity leader Luis Garcia Villagran, the migrant caravan plans to join up with former Arizona activist Irineo Mujica in Veracruz and other migrants before entering the United States.
According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) statistics, there have almost been 1.6 million illegal aliens apprehended during the fiscal year 2021. When migrants stopped at the border are included, the number comes to 2 million.
“It’s clear to me that the Biden administration does not want to stop this,” Paxton said. “They have changed all the policies that stopped this,” referring to Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” program.
In January, President Joe Biden paused deportations, stopped border wall construction, halted the Remain in Mexico program, repurposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement priorities, and reversed the ban on travel from terror-prone countries.
Paxton said that his office had to sue the Biden administration seven times and that they had won, but the administration still hasn’t implemented the program for migrants to stay back in Mexico.