Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) filed an amicus brief this week in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Texas v. United States, which focuses on what he describes as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) dangerous Permanent Guidance.
“This policy [Permanent Guidance] is another example in the shameful list of actions that the Biden administration is taking to hobble immigration enforcement and encourage border crossings,” Brnovich said in a press release. “It has and continues to cause the Amici States extensive harm through increased law enforcement, education, and health care expenditures.”
Brnovich leads a coalition of 17 other states, including Florida, Missouri, Georgia, and Ohio.
In May, Border Patrol encountered 177,793 non-citizens, which was a 15 percent increase from April, according to Customs and Border Protection. Brnovich recounts that 239,416 non-citizens were encountered at the border during May, which is 10 times the amount seen during April 2020.
Brnovich’s brief outlines how these numbers may not tell the whole story, and many more migrants get across the border without being encountered by DHS. He further states that many of the migrants encountered by DHS are permitted entry into the U.S. without receiving mandatory detention as, Brnovich alleges, the DHS abuses its parole authority.
“In a nutshell: aliens are unlawfully crossing the southwestern border in historically unprecedented numbers. Most – roughly [three-quarters] – elude DHS entirely. And for that small portion that does not slip through the agency’s fingers entirely, DHS unlawfully paroles many of them into the U.S. rather than detaining them. For the vast majority of migrants unlawfully entering the U.S., actual enforcement of U.S. immigration laws by DHS is thus the rare exception, rather than the rule,” according to the brief.
Brnovich argues that the DHS’s actions will bump up law enforcement costs for states and release criminals onto the streets. The Permanent Guidance has allegedly resulted in ICE lifting detainers on criminals who have completed their sentence. However, instead of being removed, the individuals are released into American communities.
“Generally, among released prisoners, 68% are re-arrested within 3 years, 79% within 6 years, and 83% within 9 years,” according to the brief. “Given those recidivism rates, the release of convicts into the community pursuant to the Permanent Guidance makes it virtually certain that the States will incur additional law enforcement and incarceration costs and direct crime-based losses from the Permanent Guidance’s provisions, which closely mirror the Interim Guidance.”
Furthermore, Brnovich argues that the DHS violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) with the Permanent Guidance.
“The Administration’s brazen defiance of APA requirements underscores the need for federal courts to act decisively to break the Administration’s escalating and cynical pattern of lawlessness. Since Inauguration Day, DHS has engaged in a systematic pattern of violating the APA,” according to the brief.
The brief ends by requesting the court deny the DHS’s motion for an appeal.
The Arizona Sun Times previously reported that Brnovich previously won a preliminary injunction against the Permanent Guidance in March.
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Neil Jones is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Neil on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Mark Brnovich” by Mark Brnovich.Â
