‘Political stunts’: White House pushes back after Florida judge blocks federal immigration policy

WFTV
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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday said the Biden administration will fight a Florida federal judge’s ruling that at least temporarily blocked a new immigration policy.

U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell late Thursday sided with Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and issued a temporary restraining order against the policy, saying it violated federal law.

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The Biden administration issued the policy this week to help address an expected surge of migrants coming into the country because of the expiration Thursday of a public-health order known as a Title 42 order. The new policy, which the federal government described as “parole with conditions,” was expected to lead to large numbers of migrants being released into the United States.

“The claims that CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) is allowing or encouraging the mass release of migrants … is just categorically false,” Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing.

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“That is not what’s occurring. That is not what’s happening. And it is a harmful ruling, and the Department of Justice is going to fight it. That’s what we’re going to see. And we’re going to continue to use every tool that we have to make sure that we are dealing with this issue in a humane and orderly way.”

Moody and Gov. Ron DeSantis have long criticized federal border policies and argued that undocumented immigrants coming into Florida create costs for services such as schools, health care, and prisons.

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The Pensacola-based Wetherell also ruled in March that an earlier Biden administration immigration policy violated federal law. That policy was challenged by Florida.

According to a transcript of Friday’s press briefing, Jean-Pierre accused Republican elected officials of “political stunts” and said “They don’t want to solve this problem. They want to use it, again, as a campaign tool for them.”

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