Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has joined a coalition of 18 state attorneys general in sending a letter to President Biden opposing the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for Certain Palestinians Presidential Memorandum issued on February 14, 2024.
“Though we are in the midst of a well-recognized immigration crisis caused by President Biden’s disastrous policies, Biden continues to press for even more open borders. Now he is refusing to remove Palestinians who are in the U.S. illegally, granting them automatic release from the Department of Homeland Security,” said Attorney General Marshall. “Even though a large number of Americans want our border secured and illegal aliens deported, President Biden doesn’t care. He continues to grant illegal amnesties, and he continues to favor the demands of radical activists over the needs of the American people.”
Last November, a group of state attorneys general requested that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rigorously vet foreign student visa holders and remove anyone who has endorsed or espoused terrorist activity or provided material support to foreign terrorists. Instead, President Biden ordered DHS to cease removing certain Palestinians who are in the country illegally. The coalition is now asking President Biden to reverse this latest mass amnesty.
The Immigration and Nationality Act provides 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. However, DED lacks statutory basis.
The Arkansas-led letter was signed by Attorney General Marshall along with attorneys general from Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.