The Biden Administration is seeking to implement multiple federal mandates requiring U.S. citizens to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or risk losing their jobs, while at the same time providing protection for the freedom and bodily autonomy of immigrants “more than for American citizens,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich alleges in a federal lawsuit he filed Tuesday.
President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 policies violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment by treating U.S. citizens in a harsher manner than non-citizens, according to Brnovich’s complaint for declaratory relief against Biden, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and other federal border officials.
“The Biden Administration is once again flouting our laws and precedents to push their radical agenda,” said Brnovich, who argues the federal government does not have authority to “force people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.”
Brnovich’s lawsuit targets Biden’s recent announcement that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will be establishing rules requiring anyone who works for the federal government, healthcare facilities which receive Medicare and Medicaid funding, or U.S. companies with 100 or more employees to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or face losing their jobs if they refuse to undergo frequent testing.
Roughly 100 million U.S. citizens “will be subject to unprecedented vaccination requirements” while no such mandate is in place for those aliens in the U.S. illegally, even when they are released in the country to await immigration proceedings, the lawsuit contends. Brnovich also points out the “illegality and incoherence” of how Biden’s policies will even treat some immigrants differently than others.
“Those who illegally enter the United States will not be subject to any vaccination mandate. In stark contrast, aliens who go through legal channels to obtain work visas, lawfully enter the United States, and are employed by a company with more than 99 workers, will be subject to the vaccination mandate,” the lawsuit contends.
The AG is seeking a court order prohibiting the federal government from engaging “in unconstitutional discrimination against U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and lawfully present aliens.”
One of those standing strong behind Brnovich’s lawsuit is Rep. Quang Nguyen (R-LD1) who immigrated from Vietnam to America as a child after the Fall of Saigon. He later became a U.S. citizen, and sees dark comparisons between the “or-else, dictatorial” edicts of his native land and those being put forth by the Biden Administration.
“I absolutely support Attorney General Brnovich for his action in protecting Arizonans from being forced to pick between the vaccination and not having a job,” Nguyen said after reviewing the lawsuit. “We have to stop before the point of no return.”
Nguyen told Arizona Daily Independent he is also shocked at the threats of suspension and termination directed toward those healthcare workers and other government workers who have opted out of being vaccinated.
“I never imagined it could be like this here, with no consideration of personal choice,” Nguyen said. “I am not sure how we got to this point where the opinions of our doctors, nurses, and public safety responders are being disregarded when for months they were our community heroes,” he observed.
Of equal concern for Nguyen is the Biden Administration’s insistence that Americans must provide proof of vaccination or frequent testing to remain employed, while the White House has refused to control the influx of border crossers who are not required to be vaccinated or tested to stay here pending immigration proceedings.
“Those coming across our border are not being vaccinated, but honest Americans, hard-working Americans, could be forced to undergo vaccinations to keep their jobs,” he noted. “How have we gotten to this point?”