May 25, 2023

Today Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes joined a coalition of states who filed an amicus brief in the case of Florida v. Mayorkas, supporting the State of Florida’s lawsuit against the Biden Administration’s unlawful immigration policy, creating a dangerous crisis at our southern border. Rather than detaining illegal immigrants as the law requires, the Biden Administration has released those cited at the border into the United States. This policy flagrantly violates federal immigration law and encourages immigrants to try and cross the border illegally, hoping to be released into the interior.

Since taking office, President Biden has seen an illegal immigration explosion of more than 5.5 million, larger than the population of 28 states. The Administration has released more than a million immigrants it encountered at the border into the interior. The Administration’s policy of “catch and release” rather than detaining them has not only encouraged more illegal immigration, but also dangerous criminal activity like fentanyl smuggling and human trafficking, both of which have exacted a terrible toll on this country. 

Attorney General Reyes filed the brief along with the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Read the brief here.