A coalition of 27 Republican state attorneys general made a legal filing urging President Joe Biden to address security at the U.S. southern border.
The border policies of the Biden administration, according to the coalition, have resulted in more than 7 million inadmissible immigrants entering the U.S. The coalition demands that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security amend its unlawful policies to expressly prohibit the mass release of inadmissible immigrants into the U.S.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares joins attorneys general in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming in the action.
The coalition submitted a Petition for Rulemaking to amend the DHS’s catch-and-release policies, stating that the policies are blatantly unlawful and have detrimental effects on the security of our country. The petition states: “As the court found in Florida, DHS’s mass release policies have been ‘akin to posting a flashing ‘Come In, We’re Open’ sign on the southern border’…In August 2023, Border Patrol released 100,585 aliens under § 1226(a). Florida anticipates that the numbers in August and September will be even higher, especially given DHS’s decision to set release quotas for Border Patrol to meet. Even if the numbers merely remain the same, DHS is releasing aliens at a rate of over one million per year, and that does not include the aliens being released on parole under § 1182(d)(5).”
“I’m calling on the Biden administration to take immediate action to secure our southern border by swiftly amending the catch-and-release loophole the Department of Homeland Security continues to shamelessly exploit,” Miyares said. “If the Biden administration actually wants to take effective steps to invest in public safety, I cannot think of a more urgent place for it to start.”
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Rebecca Barnabi
