The state of Florida filed suit against the Biden administration over its catch and release border policy on Tuesday, arguing it is illegal because it harms the Sunshine State by forcing it to 'incur millions of dollars in expenses.'
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed the suit on Tuesday, as part of a joint effort with Gov. Ron DeSantis.
'Many of the aliens illegally released by the Biden administration are arriving, or will arrive in Florida, harming the state's quasi-sovereign interests and forcing it to incur millions of dollars in expenses,' the suit reads.
'While some arriving migrants have legitimate asylum claims, many do not. Some are gang members and drug traffickers exploiting the crisis at the border, as evidenced by the skyrocketing amount of Fentanyl seized at the border this year,' the suit says.
US code requires immigrants to be detained until a decision is made on whether they'll be allowed into the country, but under US Code 1225, the federal government has an exception in what is known as 'parole authority,' where it can release some migrants into the interior on a 'case by case basis' when there are 'urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.'
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, left, filed the suit on Tuesday, as part of a joint effort with Gov. Ron DeSantis, right
The suit alleges Biden has abused this authority.
'The government is not free to ignore the clear commands of Congress. It has claimed that it lacks the resources and detention capacity to process the surge of migrants arriving at the border.'
The suit argues that the Biden administrations is saying is saying its catch and release policy is due to lack of resources and an overwhelmed border, but at the same time it has 'actively sought to eliminate measures that increase its resources and detention capacity.'
The suit claims that Border Patrol has released 225,000 unlawful migrants apprehended at the southern border since Biden took office, costing Florida's state prison system $100 million per year to incarcerate undocumented
