On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell gave the Biden Administration seven days to comply with federal immigration laws after siding with Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody in a lawsuit that has been ongoing since 2021:
A federal judge sided with Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody today, ruling that President Joe Biden is responsible for the border crisis and claiming the president effectively turned the U.S. Southwest Border into “little more than a speedbump.” In a scathing 100-plus-page opinion, U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell ruled that Biden’s catch-and-release policy is unlawful and gave the administration seven days to comply with federal immigration law.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “Today’s ruling affirms what we have known all along, President Biden is responsible for the border crisis and his unlawful immigration policies make this country less safe. A federal judge is now ordering Biden to follow the law, and his administration should immediately begin securing the border to protect the American people.”
The Final Order from Judge Wetherell of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Florida states: “The Court finds in favor of Florida because, as detailed below, the evidence establishes that Defendants have effectively turned the Southwest Border into a meaningless line in the sand and little more than a speedbump for aliens flooding into the country by prioritizing ‘alternatives to detention’ over actual detention and by releasing more than a million aliens into the country—on ‘parole’ or pursuant to the exercise of ‘prosecutorial discretion’ under a wholly inapplicable statute—without even initiating removal proceedings.”
Unfortunately, portions of the Biden Administration's failed immigration policies are shielded from judicial review:
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.
This only underscores how important it is that the American people elect a Republican president in 2024.
Straits are so dire on the southern border that Congress is seriously considering impeaching Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Hans von Spakovsky argued:
He has violated his oath of office by repeatedly violating the laws he swore faithfully to enforce. He has abused the powers of his office through reckless conduct that threatens the sovereignty of the U.S. and risks the safety and security of the American people and the law enforcement personnel of the Department of Homeland Security. And he has betrayed the public trust by repeatedly making false statements to Congress and misleading the public about the nature and effects of his misconduct.
No cabinet official has the constitutional authority to ignore the law that he has taken an oath to enforce, and certainly not to violate the law or to instruct executive branch employees to do so. No cabinet official has the right to make misleading statements or to lie to Congress and the public.
Yet that is exactly what Secretary Mayorkas has done since his first day in office.
His impeachable conduct includes throwing open the border and orchestrating the mass release and paroling of millions of illegal aliens in direct contravention of federal immigration law and ignoring the law’s mandatory detention and deportation provisions. His new program of preregistering illegal aliens for mass entry and release in the U.S. institutionalizes his flagrant violations of the law.
Join RNLA this Friday for a webinar where we discuss the case for impeaching DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and more! Register here today.
Join us this Friday as we examine recent chaos surrounding President Biden's Cabinet with a special focus on Transportation Sec Buttigieg's excessive use of taxpayer-funded govt jets and the potential impeachment of DHS Sec Mayorkas.
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