Texas sues Biden gov't over new asylum rule

HOUSTON - The south central US state Texas on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Joe Biden administration over a newly-introduced asylum rule allowing migrants to set up appointments at the US-Mexico border via a phone app so as to seek asylum in the United States.

"The Biden Administration deliberately conceived of this phone app with the goal of illegally pre-approving more foreign aliens to enter the country and go where they please once they arrive," Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued in a news release, accusing the Biden administration of encouraging illegal immigration.

The state argued that the app, known as CBP One, doesn't verify whether the migrants seeking appointments would qualify for entering the United States and therefore essentially encourages people to come to the country even though they don't have legal basis to stay.

More asylum seekers would increase the financial burden of Texas through things like health care and education, argued the state.

The Biden administration has been trying to build a more orderly asylum order with the app being the core of the plan. But the app has been criticized for technological and procedural problems since it was rolled out in January.