Attorney General Moody sends legal request to DHS on release of criminal aliens into U.S.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Homeland Security regarding decisions by federal officials to release criminal aliens into the country, Florida’s Voice has learned.

Moody is seeking transparency from the Biden administration on what she views as a worrying scheme to send out illegal aliens present in U.S. prisons into the country instead of deporting them.

According to the request, exclusively obtained by Florida’s Voice, Florida is asking for records pertaining to officials not issuing a detainer for illegal aliens in custody of federal authorities, canceling their detainers or declining to take illegal aliens into custody,

“The Biden administration has full knowledge that prisoners from other countries are making their way into the United States through our wide-open border,” Moody said in a statement.

These officials could include Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, among other top U.S. immigration officials, including the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Now, we are demanding to know reasons why the Biden administration is releasing criminal illegal aliens in U.S. prisons directly into the interior, rather than deporting them back to their country of origin,” she said. “This reckless scheme could have disastrous and serious repercussions, and the American people deserve to know.”  

According to a U.S. House report, the Biden administration in 2023 released almost 60% less charged and convicted criminal aliens than in 2019.

What’s more, Venezuela is reportedly declining to take in more deportations from the U.S., despite authorities encountering violent, dangerous criminals at the border.

One example recently highlighted by Moody was the death of Laken Riley, a young Georgia student. Moody has called for the passage of the Laken Riley Act, which requires illegal aliens charged with various crimes to be detained. It has thus far passed the House.

“Over three years ago, my office sued the Biden administration for refusing to deport aliens here illegally who commit crimes,” Moody said last week. “Biden has dismantled our public safety immigration structures entirely. It seems every month, this crisis worsens and in the case of Laken Riley, and many other innocent Americans, it has ended in tragedy.”

“Enough is enough. The Senate needs to pass the Laken Riley Act swiftly so we, as a nation, can begin to fix the countless problems this president has created,” the attorney general said.

Moody recently scathed Biden for his lack of action on the border crisis, telling him to “put down the ice cream cone” and resolve the problem.