A federal judge in Florida ruled the Biden administration is flouting immigration law by authorizing the release of tens of thousands of migrants into the US under parole-like programs while their asylum cases are processed.
(Bloomberg) — A federal judge in Florida ruled the Biden administration is flouting immigration law by authorizing the release of tens of thousands of migrants into the US under parole-like programs while their asylum cases are processed.
US District Judge T. Kent Wetherell in Tallahassee said Wednesday the administration’s decision to prioritize programs that promote alternatives to detention has “turned the Southwest Border into a meaningless line in the sand and little more than a speedbump for aliens flooding into the country.”
The judge sided in part with the state of Florida, which sued over the federal government policy in September 2021. Wetherell said an administration rule calling for immigration officials to utilize parole-like pathways for migrants entering the country is unlawful.
But Wetherell declined to block the administration’s broader “non-detention policy,” writing that while he believes such a policy exists and is contributing to a growing number of migrants being released into the country, federal administrative law shields the policy from judicial review.
“The evidence establishes that the current status quo at the Southwest Border is unsustainable, but it is not the Court’s job to solve the immigration crisis — that is the job of the political branches,” Wetherell wrote.
Florida is among the Republican-led states seeking stricter immigration enforcement and challenging Biden policies. To draw attention to the issue, Florida and Texas have transported migrants from their states to Democrat-led cities, including Chicago, New York and Washington, DC.
Wetherell’s ruling could provide a political boost to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to launch his campaign for president as soon as May. DeSantis has been a critic of the federal government’s handling of the migrant crisis and advocated a stricter limits on who can come into the country.
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Florida argued in its lawsuit that the Biden administration’s policy of refusing to detain migrants arriving at the border violates provisions in the law that require they be held until their cases are resolved. Thousands are released each month, forcing border states to shell out millions of dollars in health, education and other expenses, Florida claims.
The Biden administration has denied any new policies on how migrants are processed at the border, arguing in court filings that any change was the result of a shift in priorities which is permissible under federal immigration law. Attorneys for the US also say the issues raised in the lawsuit are political, not legal.
While the judge acknowledged immigration priorities and practices often shift when a new president takes office, that “does not mean that every policy change that is influenced by a change in Administrations is immune from judicial review.”
He added, “Although it would certainly be much easier for the Court to simply say that elections have consequences and that the parties’ disagreement over proper immigration policy should be resolved in Congress or at the ballot box rather than in court, the Court sees no jurisdictional or prudential reason why it should not exercise its duty to ‘say what the law is’ in this case and then let the political chips fall where they may.”
The case is Florida v. USA, 3:21-cv-01066, US District Court, Northern District of Florida (Pensacola).
(Updates throughout with details from the order.)
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