Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration on Friday for failing to not only address the southern border crisis, but also for permitting illegal immigrants to fly into the Sunshine State without a proper vetting process.
The lawsuit comes after Moody attempted non-adversarial means to obtain public information related to the “catch-and-release policy,” as well as the aerial flights for undocumented immigrants. However, the attorney general received no answers after 20 days with an additional 10-day extension.
Moody said most of these flights were happening under the “cover of night,” as if to keep the flights a secret.
The lawsuit claims the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Immigrations & Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Immigration Services as defendants.
In a press release, the attorney general stated that federal immigration policies have “real consequences” on the lives of Floridians.
“We need to know how and why the Biden administration is choosing to catch and release illegal immigrants—sending many to live in Florida. I have exhausted all non-litigious avenues for obtaining answers, but since the Biden administration refuses to be transparent with the American people, I have no other recourse than to take this matter to court—to get answers that will better help us protect the safety and security of Floridians,” Moody said.
What she is referring to is the “catch-and-release” policy reimplemented by Joe Biden’s executive order. Biden reinstated it after the Trump administration rescinded it due to its controversial nature of allowing immigrants that entered the country illegally to remain in the country while they await court proceedings that they oftentimes never show up to.
Critics argue this policy has done more harm than good. The Miami Herald reported a loss so far of an estimated $1.6 million of taxpayer money due to such porous borders and immigration policies.
This lawsuit also comes at the heels of a recent case of a 24-year-old Honduran man that arrived in similar fashion to the state of Florida, specifically Jacksonville. The illegal immigrant, named Yery Noel Medina Ulloa, was pretending to be a minor when he fatally stabbed a 46-year-old man that had taken him in.
The undocumented man was arrested in October and is now facing second-degree murder charges for the death of Francisco Javier Cuellar, a father of four.
