Attorney General Moody Takes Legal Action Against Biden Administration Over Unlawful Open-Border Policies

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody is again taking legal action against the Biden administration for unlawful open-border policies and refusing to properly enforce the law. Attorney General Moody and an 18-state coalition of other attorneys general filed a complaint over the new “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways” rule, claiming that the rule is riddled with political gamesmanship and smokescreens.  

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “Since taking office, this administration has taken step after step to dismantle our public safety-immigration structures. These latest actions are an attempt to hide the truth from the American people. Moving unvetted migrants to ports of entry does nothing to stop the crisis at the border, and Floridians deserve to know the truth.”

The federal government characterized the new rule as a means for continuing to regulate immigration since the expiration of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Title 42 public health order. That policy gave authorities greater ability to bar inadmissible immigrants from crossing the border during the COVID-19 pandemic. The “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways” rule claims it will reduce illegal immigration by declaring an ineligibility for inadmissible immigrants to claim asylum if entering through non-legal pathways. 

The complaint states, however, that in reality, “the preamble to the Circumvention Rule itself gives the game away, explaining that aliens who use the CBP One app to ‘schedule’ their entry into the United States at a specific Port of Entry (POE) will be 'exempted from this rule’s rebuttable presumption on asylum eligibility.' The real purpose of the Circumvention Rule is to incentivize an 'increasing number of migrants' to use the CBP One app to make bogus asylum claims, all while avoiding the bad optics of crowds of illegal aliens 'waiting in long lines of unknown duration at the POEs' or crossing between POEs."

Attorney General Ashley Moody is joined in filing this complaint with the attorneys general of the following states: Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming. 

To view the complaint, click here.

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