As NPR reports, lawyers for Arizona, Louisiana and Missouri went “judge shopping” when they wanted to go to court to challenge the Biden administration plan to lift Trump’s Title 42 pandemic border restrictions. Title 42, under the guise of COVID-19 safety, gave the federal government the power to return migrants at the southern border to their home countries without affording them a hearing.
Instead of filing the challenge in a court in a state capital or near the border, they opted to bring their case in the Western District of Louisiana where it will be heard today in oral arguments in front of a Trump-appointed judge.
“To date, these states have brought no less than 17 lawsuits challenging President Biden’s immigration moves,” said Karen Tumlin, the founder of Justice Action Network, on a call this week with reporters. In effect, these states are using the courts to “keep a shadow Trump administration in office on immigration issues,” she said.