For Immediate Release:
March 7, 2024
For press inquiries only, contact:
Amanda Priest (334) 322-5694
Cameron Mixon (334) 242-7491
(Montgomery) – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall today co-led motions to intervene in two lawsuits between the Biden administration and immigrants’ rights groups, including the ACLU (East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v. Biden and M.A. v. Mayorkas). The coalition of attorneys general filed motions to intervene because the Biden administration has opted to enter settlement negotiations instead of defending a rule that imposes some modest limits on illegal immigration. As the brief asserts, Attorney General Marshall strongly believes the Biden administration will not adequately represent the interests of the States related to illegal immigration.
“As the tsunami of illegal immigrants continue to pour across our border, Biden and radical activist groups stymie every reasonable effort to defend our country,” said Attorney General Marshall. “People in every state are bearing the burdens of this crisis, yet Biden and his cronies refuse to stand up for Americans. Instead, Biden has launched closed-door settlement talks with activist groups to potentially lock in an agreement that would weaken border security for years to come. My colleagues and I are intervening to ensure that does not happen.”
In both cases, one before the District of D.C. Court and another in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, immigrants’ rights groups are asking the courts to toss out a Biden administration rule that allows the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to turn away some asylum seekers.
Yet, after the Biden administration argued that the rule was lawful and that the plaintiffs had no standing to challenge it, the administration announced it had entered settlement negotiations with the plaintiffs in both of those cases.
The coalition agrees with the warning provided by Judge VanDyke, the 9th Circuit judge on East Bay Covenant, that “it’s hard to avoid any impression other than that the administration is snatching defeat from the jaws of victory – purposely avoiding an ultimate win that would eventually come later this year.”
“In the arena of immigration” the Biden administration has “taken deliberate actions that are hostile to the intervenor states’ interests,” the motion to intervene explains. “It is hard to dispute that the current illegal immigration crisis is seriously harming the United States. Those responsible for preventing and addressing the crisis – the Department of Homeland Security and (the Department of Justice), defendants in this case – have abdicated their responsibility over and over again. And they are heading down the same road in this matter too.”
Attorney General Marshall co-led with the Kansas Attorney General, and was joined by attorneys general from Georgia, Louisiana, and West Virginia.
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