Biden is not getting away this time.
A federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump has denied a request made by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) asking that a lawsuit against the Biden administration’s catch-and-release policy be dismissed.
In his ruling, Judge T. Kent Wetherell wrote the law “clearly and unambiguously state that aliens arriving at the border ‘shall be detained,’ not that they may be detained.” He continued pointing to the “cited provisions of §1225 expressly require aliens to be detained until removal proceedings have concluded, and that §1882(d)(5)(A) does not authorize Defendants to circumvent the mandatory detention requirement as it is allegedly doing through the challenged policies.”
Wetherell’s ruling comes a few months after Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody sued the DHS for surpassing its mandate when mass releasing illegal immigrants within the United States, arguing that this action put undue pressure on states.
Moody filed the case following data that shows an estimated 836,000 illegal immigrants and border crossers were released within the United States in the first year of Biden’s presidency (February 2021 to March 2022).
The case — Florida v. United States No. 3:21-cv-01066 — is currently before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
