Last week Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody argued that if states get no help from the federal government to control illegal immigration, then states should have the power to deal with it themselves.
Moody teamed up with U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, a Republican from Rockledge, to introduce the “Immigration and Enforcement Partnership Act of 2023.”
According to a press release from Moody’s office, the bill would grant states more authority to combat illegal immigration.
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“With Title 42 set to expire again in May, and President Joe Biden’s administration providing no adequate plan to deal with the expected flood of inadmissible immigrants,” the press release noted, Moody and Posey have proposed a plan “that would enable state attorneys general to act where the U.S. Department of Homeland Security fails and enforce the nation’s public-safety immigration laws.”
“In just two years, Biden has completely destroyed border security,” Moody said in a statement, noting that the Border Patrol reports that 1.2 million illegal immigrants evaded authorities to enter the country.
“The out-of-control Southwest Border continues to allow thousands of pounds of illicit and deadly substances like fentanyl into the country, causing record-shattering drug overdose deaths in the United States,” Moody continued.
“If the federal government refuses to act, then state attorneys general should be able to step up and actually enforce our nation’s laws—to protect the citizens of their states.”
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Under the bill, which was introduced Friday, a state attorney general who finds that DHS is not adequately fulfilling its duties on illegal immigration may request in writing that the DHS secretary take action to do so, including authorizing state officials to police immigration.
If DHS does not respond with action within 30 days, the state attorney general could sue the federal government to enforce these requirements, with a provision to expedite the case in the court system “to the greatest extent practicable.”
In a statement, Posey said, “Maintaining operational control over our borders is critical to our security and our ability to stop drug smugglers, human traffickers, and those on terrorist watch lists, who are invading our country and mean to do harm to our communities.”
“When the federal government abdicates its role in securing our nation’s borders and refuses to enforce immigration laws,” he added, “states should have authority to protect their citizens.”
Since President Joe Biden took office, border authorities have encountered more than 4.5 million immigrant encounters, with an estimated 1.2 million “gotaways,” the press release noted.
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That includes an increasing number of people on the federal terrorist watch list.
“The out-of-control status at the border is concerning because of the amounts of deadly illicit drugs, like fentanyl, that floods in while border authorities are overwhelmed with inadmissible immigrants,” the press release added.
“Since February 2019, CBP [Customs and Border Protection] seized 29,592 pounds of fentanyl at the Southwest Border. This is enough to kill the entire population of the United States more than 20 times over.”
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