(The Center Square) – The state of Florida is suing the Biden-Harris administration to obtain information on how many illegal foreign nationals convicted of violent crimes who served time in prison were released into the U.S. instead of being deported.
“Historically, when illegal aliens were brought to the U.S. to be prosecuted for their crimes, it was well understood that the aliens would be deported once they have served their sentence,” Florida’s lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Ashley Moody, states. “That was until the Biden-Harris Administration implemented their shockingly irresponsible immigration policy, pushing unknown numbers of dangerous criminals straight from federal prison into our communities and causing chaos, anarchy, and crime.”
The lawsuit was filed after Florida received no response to a Freedom of Information Act request it submitted in March seeking information about criminal illegal foreign nationals allegedly being released into the U.S. instead of being deported.
It was filed in the U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida Fort Myers Division and names U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Prisons as defendants.
“In addition to flat out refusing to secure the border, reports indicate that President Biden and failed Border Czar Kamala Harris refuse to deport dangerous illegal immigrant prisoners into our communities once they are released from prison,” Moody said. “This administration has made it clear they will not turn over documents showing this dangerous and unlawful scheme in a timely manner. Now, American cities are suffering in a very public way. I will not stand idly by and allow this dereliction of duty.”
When filing the FOIA request in March, she said, “The Biden administration has full knowledge that prisoners from other countries are making their way into the United States through our wide-open border. Now, we are demanding to know reasons why the Biden administration is releasing criminal illegal aliens in U.S. prisons directly into the interior, rather than deporting them back to their country of origin,” saying, “the American people deserve to know.”
The complaint states the administration is “unlawfully withholding records” and by doing so, harming Florida by “continuously denying Florida access to documents that it has a legal right to.” It also states the harm is irreparable until ICE is compelled to follow the law. The lawsuit asks the court to order the defendants to respond to Florida’s request and cover attorney fees.
In the complaint, Moody also alludes to the different processes followed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air & Marine Operations, Border Patrol, and U.S. Coast Guard officials when apprehending an illegal border crosser at a land border versus at sea.
Unlike those illegally entering at the southwest or northern borders by land, who are largely processed into the U.S. instead of for removal, when apprehended at sea, most illegal foreign nationals are repatriated to their country of origin, The Center Square has reported.
U.S. Coast Guard 7th District in South Florida crews continue to interdict and repatriate foreign nationals attempting to illegally enter the U.S. off the coast of Florida, including a record number under the Biden-Harris administration, The Center Square has reported.
According to Coast Guard records, in six months from Oct. 1, 2022, to May 17, 2023, for example, crews interdicted or encountered 6,679 Cubans and 4,473 Haitians, The Center Square previously reported.
By comparison, crews apprehended 838 Cubans in fiscal 2021, 49 in fiscal 2020, 313 in fiscal 2019 and 259 in fiscal 2018, The Center Square reported.
These numbers exclude interdiction efforts of Miami Sector Border Patrol agents, also exclusively reported on by The Center Square.
Critics argue if the policies implemented at sea, off the coast of Florida, or on Florida shores were implemented at U.S. northern and southwest land borders, potentially millions of illegal foreign nationals would have been processed for removal instead of being released into the country with a notice to appear before an immigration judge several years into the future.
Those apprehended by federal and local officials on the Florida coast after they illegally arrived by sea, who didn’t legally arrive at ports of entry with any immigration claim, are primarily processed for removal and “are generally not eligible to claim asylum or to 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 the aliens can be prosecuted consistent with federal law and serve time in prison. But everyone has always assumed – in both Democrat and Republican Administrations – that such aliens would be deported the moment they finished their criminal sentence,” she said. “Otherwise, the decision to bring a criminal to the United States for prosecution results in a benefit to that alien in the form of the right to permanently remain in the United States.
“For the first time in history, however, the Biden-Harris Administration has abandoned that practice … In other words, as things stand, asylum seekers caught on the high seas have been returned to their home country without even seeing an immigration judge, while drug traffickers and other serious criminals brought to the United States only for the purpose of serving prison time are being released straight into our communities to wreak havoc on our citizenry.”
