Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida sued President Joe Biden‘s administration so that it would be forced to “actually follow the law” and “the Constitution” and cease its “reckless policy” of releasing criminal illegal aliens, the Washington Examiner reported.
“Normally, when we’d have a criminal alien, convicted of a felony, they obviously served their sentence in Florida state prison,” DeSantis told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. “And prior to the Joe Biden administration, ICE would take control of them when they finish their sentence and remove the criminal alien and send them back to the home country.”
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody initiated the lawsuit against the Biden administration in early March, the AG’s Office reported.
The lawsuit challenges Biden’s Executive Order 13993, Revisions of Civil Immigration Enforcement Policies and Priorities, and a subsequent Department of Homeland Security memo that directs Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop civil immigration enforcement.
ICE agents also lost the ability to deport illegal aliens without first receiving approval from high-level partisan bureaucrats.
The Department of Homeland Security also illegally suspended deportations for 100 days, even when immigration courts had already ordered removals of violent illegal aliens.
Moody noted that before Biden’s administration “presidents of both parties detained and deported criminals,” including former presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama.
Obama justified de facto open borders and immigration non-enforcement by arguing that immigration agencies should focus their resources on dangerous illegal aliens and ignore nonviolent illegal aliens.
DeSantis said Biden’s policies have dropped this pretext.
“Maria, you will hear excuses for why they don’t enforce immigration laws in certain instances—prosecutorial discretion, focus on the most threats,” DeSantis said.
“These are the most threatening folks. They are criminal convicted aliens. And they are not even doing that,” he continued. “You cannot totally default on your responsibility to enforce the law under the Constitution.”
