Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill secured a temporary administrative stay against the Biden-Harris administration, stopping the unlawful ‘parole in place’ policy while litigation continues.

On August 23, Attorney General Murrill joined Texas and a coalition of 16 states in suing the Biden-Harris administration and the Department of Homeland Security. The unlawful agency rule would allow thousands of illegal aliens to remain in the U.S. for years, despite being subject for removal, while they apply for permanent residency status through a U.S. citizen family member.

Federal statute prohibits illegal aliens from obtaining most immigration benefits, such as permanent resident status, without first leaving the country and being admitted to re-enter and reside in the country lawfully. Instead of abiding by current federal law, Biden-Harris’ DHS announced that it would permit 1.3 million illegal aliens to ignore federal law and apply for permanent residency—an opportunity that is not legally available to those present in the country unlawfully. This blatantly circumvents the Constitution and directly violates the laws created by Congress to restrict the use of parole authority to a small number of “case-by-case” determinations.

Louisiana will be irreparably harmed by the PIP Program. Louisiana spends substantial sums of money providing services to paroled and illegal aliens due to the federal government’s abuses of federal law. Those services include public education, law enforcement services, healthcare and welfare benefits, as well as many other social services. Federal law requires Louisiana to include paroled and illegal aliens in those programs and requires Louisiana to include paroled aliens in programs such as S-CHIP, Medicaid, and SNAP.

“The people of Louisiana continue to suffer because the Biden-Harris administration refuses to perform its constitutional duty to secure our country,” said Attorney General Liz Murrill. “With our border wide open, these actions only incentivize those who have already proven to have no regard for the rule of law to maintain their illegal presence. Those who have shown contempt for our laws and violated our national sovereignty by illegally entering this nation should not be rewarded.”

Louisiana has approximately 70,000 illegal aliens living in the State, and they cost its taxpayers more than $362.2 million a year. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that 7,000 people would be eligible for the PIP Program.

Joining Louisiana in the Lawsuit are: Texas, Idaho, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wyoming.