A federal appellate court upheld the denial of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)'s request for a stay that would have allowed the federal government to release some parole migrants into the U.S. without much supervision.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel of appellate judges in Atlanta decided that the federal government failed to make its case, citing a time-lapse in appealing a previous court opinion and less fallout at the border than was originally anticipated.
“The department’s ability to ascertain future harm is uncertain at best,” the order states. “Given this record, we take DHS’s latest claims of impending disaster if it is not allowed to use either of the challenged policies with some skepticism.”
Attorney General Ashley Moody’s request for a Temporary Restraining Order on the May 10 Memorandum of U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz was granted by U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida Judge T. Kent Wetherell in Pensacola and the federal government appealed.
Immigration advocates view the denial of Biden's request for a stay as lawfare and continued judicial activism by the state government.
“The Attorney General and the rest of DeSantis’ cronies over there continue playing politics with people's lives and continue to uplift the DeSantis' presidential campaign,” said Thomas Kennedy, spokesperson for the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FIC). “That's what it comes down to. The guy needs to go to New Hampshire, Iowa, and other states and posture as the most anti-immigrant right-wing presidential candidate, particularly when he is plummeting in the polls.”
The appellate decision stemmed from a lower trial court ruling by Wetherell who was nominated to the federal bench by Pres. Donald Trump.
"We know that undocumented immigrants pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes to the state of Florida," Kennedy told the Florida Record. "Obviously, they have a lot of spending power, which also comes with a sales tax attached to most of the things they buy. We know they start businesses. They buy homes. They send their kids to school. They buy cars, and that comes attached to other basic expenditures in their day-to-day life. So, they are contributing to our economy."
As previously reported in the Florida Record, Moody, who filed the lawsuit on the eve that Title 42 expired, is challenging the fact that the DHS Parole + Alternatives to Detention Policy, without notice and commentary, instructs agents on how to exercise discretionary authority and sets criteria by which aliens are eligible or ineligible for parole.
“If we don't allow, for example, Florida growers to hire people who are undocumented then they just don't have workers,” Kennedy added. “They also are crucial in a lot of different industries, particularly construction, and the agricultural sector. U.S. citizens, residents, or people with work permits are not going to do their jobs because it’s back-breaking work.”