by Bethany Blankley
The state of Florida is suing the Biden-Harris administration, demanding information about the number of undocumented immigrants convicted of violent crimes who served prison sentences and were then released into the U.S. rather than being deported.
“Historically, when illegal immigrants were brought to the United States to be prosecuted for their crimes, it was commonly understood that they would be deported after serving their sentences,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said in the lawsuit. “That was until the Biden-Harris Administration implemented shockingly irresponsible immigration policies, moving an unknown number of dangerous criminals straight from federal prison into our communities and creating chaos, anarchy and crime.”
The lawsuit was filed after Florida failed to receive a response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed in March seeking information about undocumented immigrants who were allegedly released into the U.S. instead of being deported.
The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court, Fort Myers Division of Florida, and the defendants are Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
“In addition to their outright refusal to secure the border, reports indicate that President Biden and failed Border Czar Kamala Harris are refusing to deport dangerous illegal immigrants to our communities upon their release from prison,” said Moody (pictured above). “This administration has made it clear that it will not turn over the documents showing this dangerous and unlawful plan in a timely manner. Now, American cities are suffering in a very public way. I will not stand by and allow this dereliction of duty to continue.”
In filing a FOIA request in March, she said, “The Biden Administration has full knowledge that prisoners from other countries are entering the United States through our wide-open border. We now demand to know why the Biden Administration is releasing illegal immigrants from U.S. prisons directly into the interior of the country rather than deporting them back to their country of origin,” saying, “The American people deserve to know.”
The complaint claims that the administration is “unlawfully withholding records” and thereby harming Florida by “continually denying Florida access to records to which it is entitled.” It also says the harm is irreparable unless ICE is forced to comply with the law. The lawsuit asks the court to order the defendants to respond to Florida’s request and pay its attorneys’ fees.
In the complaint, Moody also alleges different procedures used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol, and the U.S. Coast Guard when apprehending an illegal border crosser at the land border versus at the maritime border.
Unlike people illegally crossing the southwest or northern border by land, who are in most cases returned to the U.S. rather than deported, most illegal aliens are repatriated to their country of origin after being apprehended at sea, The Center Square reported.
U.S. Coast Guard 7th District crews in South Florida continue to detain and repatriate foreign nationals attempting to enter the U.S. illegally off the Florida coast, including record numbers under the Biden-Harris administration. The Center Square has reported.
According to Coast Guard data, in the six months from Oct. 1, 2022, to May 17, 2023, crews detained or encountered 6,679 Cubans and 4,473 Haitians, as previously reported by The Center Square.
By comparison, crews detained 838 Cubans in fiscal year 2021, 49 in fiscal year 2020, 313 in fiscal year 2019, and 259 in fiscal year 2018, The Center Square reported.
These numbers do not include the intercepting activities of Miami Sector Border Patrol agents, who also operate exclusively reported at The Center Square.
Critics say that if the policies implemented at sea, off the coast of Florida, or on its shores were implemented on the northern and southwestern U.S. land borders, potentially millions of illegal immigrants would be subject to deportation proceedings rather than being released into the country and required to appear before an immigration judge in a few years.
People apprehended by federal and local officials on the Florida coast after illegally entering by sea, who did not arrive legally at ports of entry without any immigration application, are considered for deportation first and “are generally ineligible to apply for asylum or appear before an immigration judge,” Moody notes.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, “criminal aliens [are brought] to the United States [by the federal government] so aliens can be prosecuted under federal law and serve prison sentences. But everyone has always assumed — under both Democratic and Republican administrations — that these aliens would be deported at the end of their criminal sentence,” she said. “Otherwise, the decision to bring a criminal to the United States to face trial results in the benefit to that alien of the right to lasting residence in the United States.
“But for the first time in history, the Biden-Harris administration has abandoned this practice… In other words, as we stand, asylum seekers caught on the high seas have been sent back to their home countries without even facing an immigration judge, while drug dealers and other serious criminals brought to the United States solely to serve prison sentences are being released straight into our communities to wreak havoc on our citizens.”
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Bethany Blankley is a contributor at Central Square.
Photo: “Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody” by Office of Attorney General Ashely Moody. Background Photo “Courtroom” by Karen Neoh. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.
