IRLI Assails Biden’s Non-Enforcement Border Policies

May 20, 2021

Arizona, Montana contest priorities that handcuff immigration officers

WASHINGTON—On Tuesday, the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in opposition to the Biden administration’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit by Arizona and Montana targeting the administration’s immigration enforcement priorities.

In its brief, IRLI shows how these enforcement priorities violate the law by preventing immigration officers from taking mandatory enforcement actions against a broad range of aliens. Under the enforcement guidelines, officers may only use their authority to apprehend, detain, or remove terrorists, spies, other national security threats, those who entered the United States after November 1, 2020, aggravated felons, and criminal gang members. Officers are blocked from apprehending, detaining, or removing any other aliens, including the vast majority of criminal aliens. In its brief, IRLI calls out the Biden policy for what it is: a deliberate green light meant to draw in even more illegal aliens.

“With each passing day, it becomes more and more clear that the Biden plan is to reduce enforcement to such low levels that illegal entry, including by criminals, keeps skyrocketing,” said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. “The enforcement priorities are a key component of this deliberate, across-the-board policy, which we are dedicated to opposing at every turn.”

The case is Arizona v. DHS, No. 2:21-cv-00186 (D. Ariz.).