Florida Sues Biden Administration Over Plan To Release Migrants On Parole After Title 42 Ends

Topline

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) asked a judge on Thursday to block the Biden Administration from releasing vetted asylum-seekers into the United States without court dates, the latest pushback from a GOP-run state as immigration officials prepare to lift a strict Covid-era border restriction called Title 42 this week.

Key Facts

The filing from Moody’s office takes aim at an NBC News story Wednesday that reported the Biden Administration will direct Border Patrol agents to release a small number of vetted migrants on parole and tell them to report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, instead of giving them court dates or enrolling them in an “Alternatives to Detention” program that allows the government to track their whereabouts.

The plan is designed to prevent overcrowding at federal facilities, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told NBC, but Moody alleges the plan is unlawful because it’s too similar to the “Parole + Alternatives to Detention Policy,” which was struck down by a court in March after it was found to violate U.S. immigration rules.

Moody requests a temporary restraining order “to preserve the status quo until the parties can brief motions” for an injunction or to postpone it, saying if the policy is “left unchecked,” it “makes a mockery of our system of justice and our Constitution.”

Moody also argues that, after the March ruling against the parole policy, DHS should have requested an emergency stay or developed an alternative policy, but instead waited until the day before Title 42’s expiration and “apparently began drafting a new memo authorizing Border Patrol to release aliens en masse.”

U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell—who found the March policy unlawful—responded to Florida’s request and said the issue “needs to be resolved sooner rather than later” as the policy Florida is trying to prevent is set to go into effect at 11:59 p.m. eastern time tonight; he ordered the defendants have to respond to the motion by 4 p.m.

The Department of Justice requested an extension until 2 p.m. Friday, but Wetherell only granted an extension until 5 p.m. Thursday.

Forbes reached out to the White House for comment.

Skey Background

Title 42 was first put in place in March 2020 and allowed authorities to rapidly expel migrants from several Latin American countries back to the other side of the U.S.-Mexico border, a policy officially designed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The rule has been used more than 2.8 million times since its implementation, and the Biden Administration kept it in place for two years with some exceptions, though it has faced criticism from advocacy groups and some Democrats—and scattered legal challenges—for making it much more difficult for migrants fleeing persecution to seek asylum. But because President Joe Biden announced in January that the administration would end the national emergencies linked to the pandemic, Title 42 will end Thursday at 11:59 p.m. At that point, people seeking asylum will be interviewed by immigration officers and people with a “credible fear” of being persecuted will be able to stay temporarily. But there are concerns about the number of migrants expected, and DHS officials have said they’re planning to allow vetted migrants through because there won’t be the resources or space to detain everyone seeking asylum.

Chief Critic:

The number of migrants arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border has surged over the last two years, drawing criticism from GOP-led border states like Texas and Arizona as well as Florida. Some states have paid to bus or fly migrants to Democratic areas, a move Republican officials argue is designed to relieve pressure on border communities but critics have derided as a cruel stunt.

Tangent

Ahead of Title 42’s expiration, the Biden Administration rolled out plans to make it more difficult for migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally to apply for asylum, requiring them to demonstrate that they were unable to receive asylum in other countries that they passed through. The administration also moved 1,500 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border ahead of the policy expiration, and is opening new processing centers in Colombia and Guatemala where migrants can be pre-screened for lawful pathways before crowding the border. Administration officials also announced in January that there would be more resources available to support border communities and new consequences for people who try to enter illegally, like increasing how often expedited removal is used.

Big Number

60,000 to 65,000. That’s the number of migrants Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz told NBC News he thinks are waiting to enter the U.S. in northern Mexico alone.

Further Reading

Biden admin to allow for the release of some migrants into the U.S. with no way to track them (NBC News)

What is Title 42 and how has the US used it to curb migration? (AP)

Texas Border Cities Prepare For A ‘Hurricane Coming’ As Title 42 Expires (Forbes)

Trump Claims U.S. Will Become A ‘Third World Country’ When Title 42 Immigration Policy Expires (Forbes)

Florida AG sues Biden admin to stop planned mass release of migrants as Title 42 ends (Fox News)

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2023/05/11/florida-sues-biden-administration-over-plan-to-release-migrants-on-parole-after-title-42-ends/