ACLJ Files Lawsuit Against Biden Administration Over Refusal To Comply With Our FOIA Over Border Crisis

It seems like the Biden Administration had barely moved into the White House when migrants began surging our southern border in droves.

It shouldn’t be surprising, of course, as President Biden halted construction on President Trump’s wall and promised to reverse the Trump Administration’s immigration policies – the ones that were working – essentially flinging open the doors and saying, “Come on in.” And they have been, in unprecedented numbers.

Undocumented. Unvetted. Unlawful. Unknown entities freely moving in and disappearing.

The extreme Left falsely branded President Trump’s policies as racist and paranoid. And yet, just a few months into the Biden presidency and new Biden border policies, we told you how two known terrorists were apprehended at the border. But the Biden Administration doesn’t want you to know about it.

Two known terrorists were apprehended by our brave Border Patrol agents trying to cross into the U.S. from Mexico, but the press release about it has mysteriously vanished. The ACLJ just took action to expose this latest Biden Border subterfuge.

As reported:

“U.S. border agents in recent months arrested two Yemeni men on a terror watchlist in separate incidents as they crossed the border with Mexico illegally, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Monday.”

The men, arrested in January and March near a port of entry in California, were on a U.S. government watchlist for terrorism suspects and a “no-fly” list, CBP said in a press release.

We got lucky that time, thanks to the work of the CBP. But they are grossly outnumbered and overwhelmed. The cracks in the system are now bursting wide open.

Yet even after we’ve seen video of toddlers being dropped over the wall from heights that should have stopped the heart of any parent watching and throngs of migrants crossing the Rio Grande, illegally entering U.S. land, the Biden Administration refuses to acknowledge that we have a border crisis.

Frustrated by the President’s continued refusal to accept reality and instead burying his head in the sand, we took action. We filed a FOIA request demanding all records, communications or briefings communicated to or by U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, his aides, staff, agents or representatives, or any CBP, ICE, or USCIS official, pertaining to the Administration’s insistence that the present migrant surge at the southern border is a “challenge” and not a “crisis.”

In addition, we demanded answers about the deleted press release on the capture of the two known terrorists who dangerously infiltrated America through our porous southern border. Who knew? Who decided that the American people didn’t deserve to know? We will ensure the American people do, in fact, learn the truth.

Our FOIA also requested, among other issues, records pertaining to what actions are being taken to protect unaccompanied minors and women from human trafficking and/or sexual exploitation, what actions are being taken to stem and discourage the flow of undocumented migrants and unaccompanied minors, and what actions are being taken to protect Americans from crime, terror, drugs, and human trafficking.

And why did the Biden Administration cancel – or “postpone” – Operation Talon? Operation Talon was the Trump Administration’s organized effort to target and deport known sex offenders living in the United States illegally. If there’s a reason it was canceled, the American people deserve to know it. And if there was not a reason, well, we deserve to know that, too.

Unfortunately, the Biden standard when it comes to the challenges it faces seems to be “ignore it until it goes away.” We’ve received no cooperation. At first, the Biden team acknowledged receipt of our FOIA and asked for an additional 10 days to comply, citing a heavy volume of FOIA requests coming in – we don’t doubt it – but that was the last we heard. Our FOIA was sent on April 7th, and it certainly seems they have no intention of working with us of their own volition. By the time they did try to send a noncompliant reply, it was too little too late. We had already filed our lawsuit. Now we’re in court, and they will have to stand before the judge.

Once again, the Biden Administration left us with no choice. We filed a lawsuit against the Administration for its refusal to comply with our FOIA request. When there’s an existential threat to national security and the American people occurring right before our eyes and our current President is effectively doing nothing, the ACLJ doesn’t just go away.

As our lawsuit states:

[T]he Defendants [Biden agencies] have failed to notify Plaintiff of any determination about whether they will comply with Plaintiff’s FOIA request, including the scope of records the Defendants intend to produce, or the scope of records they intend to withhold, and the reasons for any such determination – all clearly required by the FOIA.

The Biden Administration had ample opportunity to work with us on their own. If they have nothing to hide, they have nothing to worry about. And yet they’re choosing to ignore us, hiding behind closed doors. Why? Could it be because they actually do see what’s happening at the border but fear acknowledging it would be committing the ultimate sin against the current radical Left – an admission that President Trump was right?

Now a federal judge will force the President’s team to cooperate with our records demands. The crisis at the border is real, it is happening right now; and if President Biden does not take swift, serious action to stop it now, it might soon be too late.

How many repeated and ongoing Biden Administration blunders must the American people witness? At some point, it begins to look less like naivety and more like intentionality.  We will do our part to bring this information to the American people. And then the American people can hold our leaders accountable.

At the ACLJ, we firmly support legal immigration. We believe in America as a nation of immigrants. And we welcome immigrants who go through the proper process to come here in search of the American dream, as our ancestors did. But we have to know who is coming in, and they have to follow the law – the rules passed by Congress and signed into law by the President (that’s how a constitutional republic works).

It’s that simple. And under the current Administration, that is proving extremely difficult and putting America in a vulnerable position. And it’s putting innocent men, women, and children on both sides of the border in danger as well. As we’ve said before, the Biden Administration’s willful refusal to address the crisis at the border has created an absolute nightmare for children.

The Biden team seems more interested in appeasing its radical base than securing America. That is unacceptable from our Commander in Chief. And we will hold this President and his Administration accountable.

Join us today.