Attorney General Griffin Leads 18-State Letter Calling for President Biden to Reverse Palestinian Amnesty Policy
LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin today issued a statement announcing he has sent a letter to President Biden on behalf of 18 state attorneys general opposing the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for Certain Palestinians Presidential Memorandum of February 14, 2024.
“President Biden’s deferral of the removal of Palestinians is yet another effort to circumvent the Constitution. Only Congress has the power to make rules for the admission of aliens or to exclude certain aliens—specifically those who endorse or espouse terrorist activity. We’ve seen significant support for terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah this year on college campuses,” Griffin stated.
“Last November, I led a group of attorneys general in asking the Department of Homeland Security to vigorously vet foreign-student visa holders and remove anyone who has endorsed or espoused terrorist activity or provided material support to foreign terrorists. Yet President Biden has now done the opposite and ordered DHS to cease removing certain Palestinians from the country. We are asking him to reverse this mass amnesty.”
Through the Immigration and Nationality Act, Congress has created multiple avenues for the Executive Branch to protect aliens whose lives or freedoms would be threatened if they were to return to their home countries. Congress has charged DHS with enforcing these laws, and the Supreme Court has permitted it to exercise “prosecutorial discretion” in so doing. DED, however, does not have a statutory basis.
Griffin is joined on the letter by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
To read the letter, click here.
For a printer-friendly version of this release, click here.
About Attorney General Tim Griffin
Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023. He previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District.
Griffin has served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 28 years and currently holds the rank of colonel. In 2005, he was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul.
He is currently serving as Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans. His previous assignments include serving as Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Liberty (née Bragg), North Carolina.
Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College. He also served as U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of Arkansas; Special Assistant to President George W. Bush; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney; Senior Investigative Counsel; and Associate Independent Counsel.
Griffin graduated from Magnolia High School; Hendrix College; Tulane Law School; attended graduate school at Oxford University; and is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). He resides in Little Rock with his wife Elizabeth and their three children.
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