Wyoming joins multi-state lawsuit to block new federal immigration rule

SHERIDAN — To block a proposed federal rule, Wyoming has joined 15 other Republican-led states to sue the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and several top federal officials.

The rule, released by President Joe Biden in June, would offer protections to roughly half a million undocumented immigrants who entered the country at least 10 years ago who are also married to American citizens. American citizens’ step children younger than 21 years old would also be eligible.

“If granted parole, and if otherwise eligible, these noncitizens may apply for adjustment of status to that of a lawful permanent resident without being required to leave the United States and be processed by a U.S. consulate overseas,” a DHS news release reads.

Current federal law requires undocumented immigrants to leave the country before they are granted permanent residency.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas praised the proposed rule in a June news release but added Congress is the only entity that can achieve immigration reform.

“Only Congress can fix our broken immigration system in ways that will most effectively and enduringly achieve family unity, economic prosperity, border security and humanitarian relief,” Mayorkas said.

The Department of Homeland Security estimates the people who would be eligible for the program would have lived in the country for an average of 23 years. 

Gail Symons, a local Republican precinct committeewoman, said there’s likely no downside to participating in the lawsuit, though it’s likely in part a political move.

“I think it plays to the fears and, in a lot of ways, is a reassurance to people who believe that there’s a problem, or believe there’s a problem elsewhere, and want to ensure that doesn’t occur in Wyoming,” Symons said.

She added the rule probably shouldn’t exist, and immigration reform should be left to Congress, as opposed to a presidential administration.

Bryan Miller, the Sheridan County Republican Party chair, said a rule circumventing existing law could create a lawless society. He added he supports Wyoming’s participation in the suit.

“Wyoming’s participation in this case, and others that oppose our federal government’s unlawful assumption of power and authority are necessary if we are to remain the Republic our Founding Father’s [sic] set up for us nearly 250 years ago,” Miller wrote in an email to The Sheridan Press.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., was critical of the rule in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“POTUS pretended to care about securing the border before announcing a mass amnesty plan to provide citizenship to hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens. The number of people that would get citizenship under this plan is more than the entire state of Wyoming’s population,” Lummis said.

An estimated 5,000 undocumented immigrants live in Wyoming, according to the American Immigration Council, an organization working to strengthen the nation’s immigration policies and practices. 

Gov. Mark Gordon’s Communications Director Michael Pearlman said the rule would ignore existing law and incentivize illegal immigration.

“Governor Gordon has been critical of the Biden/Harris Administration’s policies that do nothing to address illegal immigration. He has also been consistent in challenging the Administration’s actions when he believes they violate federal law or result in federal overreach, as they do in this case. For those reasons, Wyoming is a party to this suit,” Pearlman said in an email to The Sheridan Press. 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is leading the charge in the lawsuit, which he filed at the end of last week. The filing states offering parole in place to immigrants already in the U.S. may violate existing law.

America First Legal, a conservative interest group, is also part of the lawsuit seeking to block the Biden Administration’s rule.

“This executive amnesty gives over one million illegals legal status, work permits and a path to voting citizenship. It is brazenly unlawful, a deadly accelerant to the ruinous border invasion, and we will use every lawful tool to stop it,” America First Legal President Stephen Miller said in a news release accompanying the filing documents. 

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court and requested a judge block the rule as the lawsuit makes its way through the legal process.

This story was published on August 26, 2024.