Judge halts Biden administration plan for migrant parole

(NewsNation) — A federal judge in Florida has halted a Biden administration plan to release migrants on parole as detention facilities become overwhelmed.

The White House was not hiding its disgust, as a Florida judge halted a plan for authorities at the border to release migrants on a case-by-case basis.

As facilities along the border have become overwhelmed, Customs and Border Protection had been planning on being able to use parole to release migrants. The expiration of Title 42, a policy reinstated during the COVID-19 pandemic that allowed border agents to turn migrants away and suspended the legal right to seek asylum, is expected to lead to an influx of migrants.

Judge T. Kent Wetherell, an appointee of then-President Donald Trump, shut that down for up to two weeks, writing that “Aliens are being released into the country on an expedited basis without being placed in removal proceedings and with little to no vetting and no monitoring.”

The judge noted the policy is not substantially different from one he struck down in March.

Now the Biden administration has to adapt.

We’re going to let the Department of Justice deal with this ruling,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Jean-Pierre said the administration is planning to add thousands more beds to detention facilities to handle an expected increase in migrants. She added that the administration would use all existing tools available to handle the situation on the southern border.

The challenge came from the state of Florida.

That state’s governor and expected Republican presidential candidate, Gov. Ron DeSantis, hailed the ruling, and pointed the finger right back at the Biden White House.

“Maybe that will prompt some introspection in the Biden administration,” DeSantis said. “I doubt it very seriously, but what they’re doing is a total disgrace, so thanks to Florida for stepping up.”

The Justice Department is expected to issue a legal response to the ruling.