Immigration authorities will not be able to release immigrants who crossed the southern border without a court date. So ruled Judge T. Kent Wetherell II, who issued a ruling hours before the end of Title 42 in response to a lawsuit by prosecutor Ashley Moody against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The judge thus thwarted, for at least two weeks, the Administration's plan to reduce overcrowding at border patrol facilities following the lifting of immigration restrictions. This new policy was revealed in a memorandum signed by Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz just this week days before the lifting of Title 42.
The text, entitled Policy on Conditional Parole in Limited Circumstances Prior to Issuance of an Indictment (Conditional Parole)explained that the authorities on the southern border could let immigrants apprehended inside the country go without first being processed by the courts.
In this way, the government intended to speed up processing at facilities that had exceeded their capacity. Those released would leave with a conditional release and a warning to report within 60 days to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Judge's criticisms
"The southwest border has been out of control for the last 2 years", Wetherell wrote in his sentence. He acknowledged that there is a "crisis" and even quoted Biden himself, who admitted that the border is at a chaotic situation years ago and will continue to do so after the end of Title 42.
This problem (the immigration crisis) is largely the work of the defendants themselves (the DHS) through the adoption and implementation of policies that have encouraged so-called "irregular immigration" which has become quite regular in the last 2 years.
If the problem is so long-standing,why did DHS wait until the last day to implement a new immigration policy? The magistrate states the same, pointing out that the memorandum does not provide the answer. In addition, he detailed several flaws in the plan, including the lack of a method to track released immigrants.
But the granting of parole under the challenged policy does not impose any restrictions on where aliens may go nor does it require electronic surveillance or any other safeguards to track the location of aliens once released into the country.
The Border Patrol chief's text also does not determine who is responsible for finding individuals who fail to report to ICE. In addition, according to the judge, the 60-day period could be extended indefinitely.
The memorandum states that the "initial" grant of parole "should generally be 60 days," suggesting that there may be circumstances in which parole could be granted initially for more than 60 days and/or that parole could be extended through subsequent grants.
The memo proposed that CBP would evaluate on a case-by-case basis whether the immigrant was dangerous. Wetherell noted, however, that officers should conduct this assessment without one essential piece of information: the person's criminal record. These can only be obtained by the court, so officers should make a decision in haste depending only on the word of the immigrant.
The new measure is also"materially indistinguishable" from another policy already repealed in Florida, the so-called "Parole+ADT" policy.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA PENSACOLA DIVISION by Santiago Adolfo Ospital on Scribd
Prosecutor Moody's second strike
With Judge Wetherell's decision, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody scored her second judicial success against Biden's immigration policies.
Moody argued in his lawsuit against the Border Patrol memo that its new regulations would allow for the "massive" release of immigrants into the United States. His office even put the figure at 700,000.
She also assured that the strategy unveiled this week was identical to the one she herself had denounced earlier this year, and which Judge Wetherell had already declared illegal.
We took swift action to protect the American people from Joe Biden's illegal plan to release thousands of immigrants when Title 42 expires in one hour. I am grateful for the federal judge's quick decision.
We took swift action to protect the American people from @JoeBiden’s unlawful plan to release thousands of illegal immigrants when Title 42 lifts in an hour.
I am grateful for the quick decision by the federal judge.https://t.co/uv6natkL83 https://t.co/hgJMuNLIJL
— AG Ashley Moody (@AGAshleyMoody) May 12, 2023
