Attorney General Ashley Moody announced that Florida is taking legal action against the Biden administration for ignoring federal immigration law as the situation at the U.S. southwest border continues. The Attorney General filed an amended complaint challenging President Joe Biden’s latest unlawful immigration policy.
The amended complaint comes after it was uncovered that dozens of illegal immigrants were brought to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office and then bussed to a nearby airport to be sent to their chosen destination inside the United States. Some individuals said that they planned to head to Floridian cities like Jacksonville and Miami.
“The Biden administration has not only consciously refused to enforce immigration laws, but it has also developed an operation to secretly resettle illegal aliens into communities across Florida and the rest of the United States,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “They’re doing this in the dark of night without any coordination with states, without any background checks, and without any efforts to initiate the legal process for their removal. I am glad Attorney General Moody is continuing our fight to hold the Biden Administration accountable for its reckless disregard for immigration laws.”
In September 2021, Florida filed a challenge to the Biden administration’s catch-and-release border practices that ignore federal law. According to federal law, arriving immigrants, including those claiming asylum, are required to be detained while immigration courts determine if there is a valid basis to enter the United States. As a result of this litigation, the federal government abandoned its “notice to report policy.”
“The “Parole + Alternatives to Detention” policy is yet another unlawful policy out the Biden administration. “It is appalling that the president is using taxpayer dollars to fund his open-borders agenda — even facilitating flights to transport illegal immigrants around our own country,” said Attorney General Ashley Moody. “Beyond that, his brazen lack of responsibility has led to the absolutely out-of-control conditions at our southwest border — where our border agents came into contact with more than 2 million illegal immigrants last year. While the president’s policies are helping human traffickers, criminals, and deadly drugs find their way across the border and into Florida, I remain committed to fighting to protect Floridians from this disaster.”
Appearing on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in November, DeSantis alleged that upward of 70 flights have landed at Jacksonville International Airport in recent months, all containing undocumented individuals from Central America and Mexico.
“So these are flights that are coming in, 2 or 3 in the morning. The feds, of course, control the airspace. And they’re there on the ground,” said DeSantis. “They take these folks, and they send them to other parts of Florida by bus. Or to other parts of the Southeast.”
A Honduran national that was brought to Florida through one of the midnight flights was alleged to have murdered Francisco Javier Cuellar, father of four, in October. “If Biden had not been doing that, if he’d been doing his job, that individual would be alive today,” said DeSantis.
While seven different Democrat elected officials either declined to comment on the matter or did not respond to emails seeking comment, District 47 Representative Anna Eskamani sought to add nuance to the issue. “We also need to stop politicizing what is a humanitarian crisis.
“The United States has an incredible history in welcoming the sick and tired and those yearning to be free. Florida has had a history under the leadership of Senator then-Governor Rick Scott in supporting in-state tuition for Dreamers,” Eskamani said. “Our Governor’s comments don’t provide insight into the bigger picture of these issues and it certainly doesn’t pay homage to our American values of working across the aisle to solve problems.”
During the interview, DeSantis acknowledged the limitations that the state government faces due to federal ownership of the airspace.
“We’re looking at what we can do. I think that they use these private contractors. So what we’re looking at is how can we fight back against the contractors.”