Attorney General Gentner Drummond is challenging a Biden-Harris Administration rule that allows illegal immigrants to remain in the United States with potential employment and access to public benefits. Last week, Drummond, along with six other attorneys general, filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas supporting a lawsuit against the administration's "Parole-in-Place" (PIP) rule.
"The Biden-Harris administration's ‘Parole-in-Place' rule would greatly exacerbate the nation’s border crisis, which is already creating unprecedented criminal activity in Oklahoma,” said Drummond. “This misguided policy increases costs and administrative burdens for our state when the federal government should be working hard to decrease them. As Oklahoma’s chief law enforcement officer, I believe it is important to challenge this rule to protect the public safety as well as our resources. We must secure our communities."
The Department of Homeland Security implemented the PIP rule in August 2024, intensifying concerns about illegal immigration. The program reportedly incentivizes more illegal immigration by signaling a lack of enforcement of immigration laws.
“Defendants’ latest move is to rewrite immigration law to allow over a million illegal aliens to remain in the United State and live as temporary legal residents until they can apply for permanent residency,” states the brief. “Defendants do all that amid an ongoing immigration crisis that imposes significant costs on the States, including hundreds of millions of dollars in new expenses relating to law enforcement, education and healthcare programs.”
The PIP program allegedly exceeds executive authority granted by Congress under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which permits parole on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.
Oklahoma is also contesting its own legal battle against federal policies concerning House Bill 4156. This measure allows state and local law enforcement to arrest and incarcerate immigrants illegally present in Oklahoma.
Attorneys general from Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Utah, and West Virginia joined Oklahoma in opposing the PIP program through their amicus brief.