Florida sues US prison inmates over release of violent foreigners

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

The state of Florida is suing the Biden-Harris administration to obtain information about how many illegal aliens convicted of violent crimes and serving time in prison were released into the United States and not deported.

“Historically, when illegal immigrants were brought to the United States to face trial for their crimes, it was a given that they would be deported after serving their sentences,” says Florida's lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Ashley Moody. “That was until the Biden-Harris administration implemented its shockingly irresponsible immigration policies, funneling an unknown number of dangerous criminals straight from federal prison into our communities, causing chaos, anarchy and crime.”

The lawsuit was filed after Florida failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request in March, asking that illegal criminals allegedly be released to the United States rather than deported.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Fort Myers Division, and names U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Prisons as defendants.

“President Biden and failed border czar Kamala Harris are reportedly not only refusing to secure the border, but they are also refusing to deport dangerous illegal immigrants to our communities as soon as they are released from prison,” Moody said. “This administration has made it clear that it will not release the documents proving this dangerous and unlawful scheme in a timely manner. Now American cities are suffering in a very public way. I will not stand by and allow this dereliction of duty.”

When she filed the FOIA request in March, she said, “The Biden administration is fully aware that prisoners from other countries are entering the United States through our wide-open borders. Now we are demanding the reasons why the Biden administration is releasing criminal illegal immigrants from U.S. prisons directly into the interior of the country rather than sending them back to their country of origin,” and said, “The American people have a right to know.”

The complaint alleges that the government is “unlawfully withholding records” and is harming Florida by “continuing to deny Florida access to documents to which it is legally entitled.” It also says the harm will be irreparable until ICE is forced to comply with the law. The complaint asks the court to order the defendants to respond to Florida's request and to pay attorneys' fees.

In the complaint, Moody also points out the different procedures used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Marine Air-Tac, Border Patrol and Coast Guard agents when apprehending an illegal border crosser at a land border compared to an apprehending one at sea.

Unlike those who enter the U.S. illegally by land through the southwest or northern border, who are largely not deported upon entering the U.S., most illegal aliens are returned to their country of origin after being apprehended at sea, The Center Square reported.

As The Center Square reports, crews from the U.S. Coast Guard's 7th District in South Florida continue to intercept and repatriate foreign nationals attempting to enter the United States illegally off the coast of Florida, including a record number under the Biden-Harris administration.

For example, according to Coast Guard records, crews intercepted or encountered 6,679 Cubans and 4,473 Haitians in the six months from October 1, 2022, to May 17, 2023, The Center Square previously reported.

By comparison, investigative teams arrested 838 Cubans in fiscal year 2021, 49 in fiscal year 2020, 313 in fiscal year 2019 and 259 in fiscal year 2018, The Center Square reported.

These numbers do not include interception attempts by Miami Sector Border Patrol agents, which The Center Square also reported exclusively.

Critics argue that if the measures implemented at sea, off Florida's coast or on the state's beaches were also implemented at the U.S.'s northern and southwestern borders, then the process of deporting these illegal aliens would not have begun with a summons to appear before an immigration judge several years later.

Those who are apprehended by federal and local authorities on the Florida coast after entering illegally by sea and failing to reach ports of entry legally and without immigration eligibility are primarily processed for deportation and “generally have no right to seek asylum or appear before an immigration judge,” Moody notes.

Under the Biden-Harris administration, “criminal aliens [are brought] to the United States [by the federal government] so that the aliens can be prosecuted under federal law and serve their sentence. But everyone — under both Democratic and Republican administrations — always assumed that such aliens would be deported once they served their sentence,” she said. “Otherwise, the decision to bring a criminal to the United States for prosecution confers a benefit on the alien in the form of the right to remain permanently in the United States.”

“For the first time in history, however, the Biden-Harris administration has abandoned this practice… In other words, as things stand, asylum seekers intercepted at sea are being sent back to their home country without even seeing an immigration judge, while drug traffickers and other serious criminals brought to the United States for the sole purpose of serving prison sentences are being released directly into our communities to wreak havoc among our citizens.”

* * *

••• Editor's note: A free press is critical to well-informed voters and citizens. While some news organizations opt for fee-based websites or costly paywalls, The Highland County Press has provided a free newspaper and website to our community for 25 years. If you would like to contribute to this service, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations can be sent to: The Highland County Press, PO Box 849, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133. Please indicate “for website” in the subject line.