(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The Biden administration is fighting tooth and nail against the release of potentially politically damning documents related to its open border policies, igniting the ire of a conservative legal group.
America First Legal (AFL) has been relentlessly pushing for the release of weekly ICE reports that are submitted for final approval before ICE can take deportation action against certain illegal aliens.
The dispute stems from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by AFL in 2021, shortly after President Joe Biden’s inauguration, according to Fox News. Upon his appointment, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas forced ICE agents to submit weekly arrest reports before they could deport what they deemed to be non-priority illegal aliens.
In response, DHS provided a heavily redacted document that hid the personal identifying information of illegal aliens, including potential affiliations with violent gangs, cartels and other terrorist groups.
The concealment ignited AFL to slap DHS with a lawsuit for the fully unredacted documents. However, Biden officials argued that disclosing this information would invade the personal privacy of illegal aliens, even those potentially tied to gangs.
“ICE properly withheld gang, cartel, and terrorist group affiliations of noncitizens under Exemption 7(C), because disclosure would invade noncitizens’ personal privacy without any countervailing public interest,” DHS claimed in a legal filing, Fox News reported on Sept. 19.
AFL, on the other hand, slammed the DHS for apparently seeking to shield alleged gang members who may be in the country illegally.
AFL Vice President Gene Hamilton told Fox that the American people “have every right to know the criminal history or gang affiliations of illegal aliens in the United States.”
In the same statement, Hamilton added, “The simple fact is that every single crime they commit is a crime that wouldn’t have happened if our immigration laws were enforced, and the privacy interests of a cartel member or a gang member can never outweigh the need of the American people to know what is happening in their own country.”
The legal battle unfolds against a backdrop of controversy surrounding the DHS, with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former Biden ally and campaign surrogate, criticizing Biden for his reckless handling of the open border chaos.
Furthermore, damning videos have recently surfaced showing illegal aliens hijacking a train from Mexico to the United States, raising concerns about border security. Over 2,200 illegal aliens were reportedly captured in just one day in Texas, as reported by Fox.
BREAKING: One of the largest mass illegal crossings we have ever seen took place in Eagle Pass, TX this morning, w/ Border Patrol sources telling us over 2,200 people crossed there since midnight. It happened right next to the port of entry, as illegal immigrants continue to… pic.twitter.com/NDFX17r4vU
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) September 18, 2023
