The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), a D.C.-based nonprofit, has sued the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency over its immigration policies.
Filed on Thursday, the suit demands the agency explain “why it chose to freeze, rather than expand, a highly successful program that allows for enhanced cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal immigration agencies,” according to an IRLI press release.
Known as the 287(g) Program, ICE has readily admitted that the program “enhances the safety and security of our nation’s communities by allowing ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) to partner with state and local law enforcement agencies to identify and remove incarcerated criminal noncitizens who are amenable to removal from the U.S. before they are released into the community.”
NEW: @IRLILaw Sues ICE for Emails on 287(g) Program Expansion Freezehttps://t.co/WJf5qUMtZj
— Immigration Reform Law Institute (@IRLILaw) January 12, 2024
Yet in January of 2021, the month that President Joe Biden assumed office, ICE quietly placed a “hold” on the program. Not until August of 2023 was the “hold” revealed publicly.
“Such a hold does not appear to have been authorized by a law enacted by Congress, nor has ICE ever taken any official action under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in order to create or impose the hold,” IRLI notes in its press release.
“Furthermore, the agency never even publicly acknowledged the hold’s existence prior to August 2023, more than two and a half years after its apparent inception,” the press release continues.
In September of last year, the IRLI sought to figure out why by submitting a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to ICE pertaining to the 287(g) Program.
But despite a federal law saying agencies must respond to a FOIA request within two months, four months passed without ICE saying anything, prompting IRLI to file suit.
“Increased cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement is critical and makes our communities safer, so of course this administration wants to limit that effort,” IRLI executive director and general counsel Dale L. Wilcox said in a statement.
“There is no benefit to this country or its legal residents by keeping criminal aliens in the country, yet it appears to be a priority of this White House. The American people own those emails, yet we are not allowed to see them because it might embarrass this administration and expose their extremist agenda,” he added.
Biden’s DHS Sued Over Hidden Documents Showing ‘Border Crisis’ is Intentional Policy
The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) has filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to learn why the agency halted the 287(g) program, which… pic.twitter.com/mzKb0ZE4Kh
— The Dibster (@richarddibX) January 13, 2024
IRLI director of investigators Matt O’Brien was equally critical.
“It is ironic that the Biden Administration insists it is ‘the most transparent in history’ when, in reality, it has repeatedly attempted to change immigration laws without Congressional authorization and then tried to hide the evidence of its misdeeds from the American public,”” he said.
“IRLI hopes to bring the details of the ‘287(g) hold’ into the sunshine, even if it must fight to do so,” he added.
The suit comes amid an unprecedented border crisis that has seen millions of illegal alien migrants stream into the U.S. and then be funneled into American cities by the Biden administration.
In fairness, some border state governors and mayors have also been shipping the migrants to cities, but only to serve as a “wake up” call to non-border communities.
Things are so bad that last week New York City officials kicked public high school students out of school to make room to house the illegal alien migrants:
BREAKING: Buses are now pulling up to @JMHSBklyn and dropping off illegals. School is closed tomorrow because illegals will be sleeping in the school’s gym. This is disgraceful! NYC is prioritizing illegals over Americans. pic.twitter.com/2jmKXfRTHX https://t.co/ViZiWlqTX5
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 9, 2024
Meanwhile, the Biden administration is actively trying to prevent border state governors like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott from stymieing the flow of illegals into the United States.
“The Biden administration on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Texas over its controversial immigration law that gives local law enforcement in Texas the authority to arrest migrants, arguing the state ‘cannot run its own immigration system,'” CNN reported last Wednesday.
“The move comes after the Justice Department threatened last week to sue Texas if it didn’t back down from the measure. It marks the second legal action against the state this week, as President Joe Biden and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott spar over the handling of the US-Mexico border.”
This week, #OperationLoneStar surpassed more than 100,000 migrants transported to sanctuary cities.
Texas will continue to hold the line against the border crisis.
Read this week’s update below.https://t.co/d1QVcGTEYH
— Gov. Greg Abbott (@GovAbbott) January 12, 2024
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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