Photo: Alamy
The White House is pushing back against a Massachusetts federal judge’s order that halted the deportation of eight illegal immigrants with violent criminal histories, accusing the court of interfering with U.S. foreign policy and public safety efforts.
In a statement released Wednesday, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the Biden administration “conducted a deportation flight from Texas to remove some of the most barbaric, violent individuals illegally in the United States.”
She added, “No country on earth wanted to accept them because their crimes are so uniquely monstrous and barbaric,” but praised the State Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for securing a country willing to receive them.
The deportation flight was reversed after a district judge ordered the government to return the individuals to the United States. According to the White House, the eight individuals included immigrants from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, South Sudan, Burma and Vietnam, each with convictions ranging from homicide, attempted murder, and kidnapping to sexual assault of minors and trafficking offenses.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said the administration had taken a hard stance on removing public safety threats, stating, “Under President Trump and under the leadership of @Sec_Noem, we are now able to remove these public-safety threats so they won’t prey on the community anymore.”
McLaughlin sharply criticized the court’s intervention, calling it “absolutely absurd for a district judge to try and dictate the foreign policy and national security of the United States of America.” She emphasized that the administration is complying with all court orders, but maintained the need for decisive action in deporting violent criminals.
McLaughlin concluded the White House statement, sharply criticizing the court’s intervention.
“A local judge in Massachusetts is trying to force the United States to bring back these uniquely barbaric monsters who present a clear and present threat to the safety of the American people and American victims. While we are fully compliant with the law and court orders, it is absolutely absurd for a district judge to try and dictate the foreign policy and national security of the United States of America,” she wrote.
