This week, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced she is leading a multistate coalition of 26 attorneys general pushing Congress to grant state officials the power to perform immigration functions when the federal government refuses.
“The Southwest border continues to see record-breaking numbers of inadmissible immigrants flooding in—more than 7 million illegal immigrants have walked freely into the country since Biden took office—including more than 280 individuals encountered on the terrorist watchlist since fiscal year 2021. The most recent statistics released by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol show 269,735 migrant encounters in September alone,” Moody’s office noted.
Moody took aim at the Biden administration on Monday.
“On day one, Biden began intentionally dismantling our public safety immigration structure. President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have outright ignored federal law, and we have uncovered numerous ‘secret plans’ to allow for the mass release of unvetted and inadmissible migrants. This is not only in direct conflict with federal law, but it has also put Americans’ safety in jeopardy. Deadly fentanyl is freely flowing into our country with the cartels maintaining operational control of the border, killing hundreds of thousands of our citizens,” said Moody.
“More than 280 people on the terrorist watchlist have been caught illegally crossing. While that number sounds high, it is likely low in comparison to those who have evaded capture. Congress must pass the Immigration Enforcement Partnership Act and allow states to do the job Biden refuses to do—as the terror threat continues to grow—secure the border and protect Americans,” she added.
In a letter to congressional leaders, Moody and the coalition “lay out several crises that the United States now faces as a direct result of Biden and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas’ outright refusal to enforce the law.”
In the letter, Moody pointed out that Florida took the Biden administration to court and won on numerous occasions but in the end, more needs to be done.
“I like to believe we at least slowed the invasion to some degree. However, it is becoming clear that the judicial system is not an adequate battlefield to quickly address the urgent crisis Biden has created,” Moody insisted.
The letter layed out an urgent request for Congress to pass the Immigration Enforcement Partnership Act of 2023. Moody has worked with U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., to craft this legislation twice now, yet the bill has yet to receive even a hearing.
“Had Congress acted sooner, the U.S. might not be setting yet another record for CBP encounters at the border. We will never know, but if we take action now to give states the authority to do the job Biden and Mayorkas refuse to do, we could prevent another record next year,” Moody and the coalition wrote.
The Immigration Enforcement Partnership Act “authorizes a state attorney general to request in writing that the Department of Homeland Security adequately fulfill certain duties related to immigration enforcement. Within 30 days of receiving such a request, DHS must ensure that such duties are adequately fulfilled by DHS officers and employees or authorize that state’s officials to fulfill such duties. The state attorney general may sue DHS for failure to meet this bill’s requirements.”
The letter urged Congress to, at the very least, expeditiously give the bill a hearing. Moody is asking Congress to step up and allow states to step in where the federal government has failed.
Moody led a multistate coalition with 25 other attorneys general from the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
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