The Arizona Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit this week against the Biden administration’s U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a new policy that the AG and Border Patrol agents believe could “endanger Arizonans.”
The new policy involves pausing nearly all deportations for 100 days. The Attorney General’s Office is asking the U.S. District Court in Arizona to rule the new policy violates federal law and Arizona’s existing agreement with DHS.
Art Del Cueto, Vice President of the National Border Patrol Council, in an interview on the James T. Harris show, said agents were already seeing changes along the border since Biden took office. “Rhetoric alone has a deep effect again now because we have seen a huge number of individuals entering illegally.”
Del Cueto gave credit to the Trump administration for the decrease in illegal immigration that was occurring the last four years, stating that people understood that while Trump was in office there would be consequences.
“The first day after the inauguration there were a group of 60 unaccompanied children and families all together on the very first day. In the last three days, I’m hearing, that in the last three days there’s been over 120 unaccompanied juveniles that turned themselves over to border patrol”, Del Cueto explained.
Harris asked Del Cueto about the pictures that had been seen on his Twitter account with people being packed into other’s trunks and pickup trucks.
“Couple days ago, I believe, if not yesterday,” stated Del Cueto, “I know Douglas agents down there in the Douglas area, they got a pickup truck with 22 people that were pretty much sardined into the back of the pickup truck. They had a piece of plywood tying them down. They had 22 individuals entering the country illegally. They had some methamphetamines, ecstasy, and I believe the driver was a United States citizen under the influence”.
Del Cueto says that the change along the border is almost like a “flick of the switch.” He argued that crimes need consequences or without them the criminals will continue what they are doing.
According to Attorney General’s Office (AGO), “Not only could the plan release individuals charged with or convicted of crimes into Arizona communities, but law enforcement officials have told the AGO they are concerned whether those being released are being tested for COVID-19.
A federal judge in Texas has ruled the new DHS policy likely violates the law and has imposed a 14-day nationwide temporary restraining order, the order has been extended but is set to expire on February 23rd, 2021.
In the AGO’s claims that “within the first three days of the enacted policy (and before the TRO), DHS released 27 aliens in the Phoenix area. This is the third-highest number in the country.”
The AGO has been notified that many of those individuals may have not been properly COVID-19 tested, nor did DHS try to coordinate with local health or police agencies.