A sizeable contingent of Republican-led states are mounting a legal effort to stop the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris from implementing a new amnesty program. 

This is according to a new report from the Associated Press.

The program at issue is called "Keeping Families Together."

No less than 16 Republican states have filed a lawsuit looking to block the program.

Here are the details:

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has initiated the "Keeping Families Together" plan, which is "a process for certain noncitizen spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens [to gain U.S. citizenship]."

In order to be eligible, the spouse of the noncitizen must:

• Be present in the United States without admission or parole;
• Have been continuously physically present in the United States since at least June 17, 2014, through the date of filing your request;
• Have a legally valid marriage to a U.S. citizen on or before June 17, 2024;
• Have no disqualifying criminal history and otherwise not deemed to be a threat to public safety, national security, or border security; and
• Submit biometrics and undergo required background checks and national security and public safety vetting.

Fox News reports that the plan "will make an estimated 500,000 noncitizen spouses and another 50,000 noncitizen stepchildren of U.S. citizens eligible for parole."

The administration implemented the program during the week of the Democratic National Convention, where Harris accepted her party's presidential nomination. In other words, they have begun to take applications for the program.

The purpose of the plan is obvious - to further the Democrats' open borders agenda.

The lawsuit

The 16 Republican states are essentially trying to put an end to the program.

The Associated Press reports:

The coalition filed suit Friday to halt the program launched by President Joe Biden in June, saying in court filings that the administration bypassed Congress to create a pathway to citizenship for “blatant political purposes.”

The lawsuit will start off at the federal court in Tyler, Texas.

The challengers are arguing that the program "incentivizes illegal immigration and will irreparably harm the Plaintiff states."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has put out a statement, saying:

Breaking: I am suing the Biden Administration for their unlawful "parole in place" policy that incentivizes and rewards illegal immigration. We just filed an urgent lawsuit along with @StephenM @America1stLegal and 15 other states to block Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' new policy that provides executive amnesty and a path to citizenship to over 1 million immigrants who entered our country illegally. The Biden-Harris administration is actively working to turn the United States into a nation without borders and a country without laws.