As President Joe Biden’s immigration crisis overwhelms the United States and wreaks havoc on the state’s resources, confidential documents suggest the president’s open border policies were intentional.
The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) filed a lawsuit against Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS), claiming the agency halted the 287(g) program, which assists in the deportation of illegal migrant child rapists, attempted murderers, assailants, carjackers, and other known criminals.
In August 2023, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) revealed that the government ended the program in January 2021— right after Biden entered office. However, the compromised agency gave no reason why the government did that.
The 287(g) program allows local law enforcement agencies to work closely with ICE to capture illegal aliens who have committed crimes. They were then able to turn the migrants over to federal officials for arrest and deportation.
“It is ironic that the Biden administration insists it is ‘the most transparent in history’ when, in reality, it has repeatedly attempted to change immigration laws without congressional authorization and then tried to hide the evidence of its misdeeds from the American public,” IRLI Director of Investigations Matt O’Brien said.
Flash forward to September 2023, the IRLI filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to ICE, requesting to obtain internal documents regarding the agency’s suspension of the 287(g) program. However, the government did not comply with a rule that they must reply within 20 days. ICE authorities have yet to respond.
“Increased cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement is critical and makes our communities safer, so of course, this administration wants to limit that effort,” IRLI Executive Director Dale Wilcox said in a statement. “There is no benefit to this country or its legal residents by keeping criminal aliens in the country, yet it appears to be a priority of this White House. The American people own those emails, yet we are not allowed to see them because it might embarrass this administration and expose their extremist agenda.”
Twenty-three agreements between local law enforcement and ICE were set to go into effect before Biden suspended the program. However, they were canceled after the president took office. Currently, ICE has 287(g) relationships with nearly 140 law enforcement organizations nationwide.