A federal judge in Florida ordered the Biden administration on Monday to explain its release of illegal immigrants on “parole” at the southern border, citing a Washington Times report saying some 2,500 paroles were issued even after the court issued a temporary restraining order.
U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell issued a “show cause order” giving the administration until the afternoon to explain what happened and, if true, to argue how the paroles didn’t violate his restraining order.
He said he had “a healthy degree of skepticism” about what appears in the media.
“However, the Court takes allegations of noncompliance with its orders very seriously, irrespective of the source of the allegations,” the judge wrote.
The Times reported that the Border Patrol issued 6,000 paroles to migrants at the southern border on Thursday, just ahead of the expiration of the Title 42 pandemic expulsion power and before the restraining order went into effect.
But on Friday, after Judge Wetherell’s order was in effect, the Border Patrol issued another 2,500 paroles, according to a Homeland Security source who had reviewed the data.
The judge is overseeing a case involving a legal challenge to the use of parole at the border.
Border Patrol chief Raul Ortiz, anticipating a new surge of illegal immigrants with the end of Title 42, had issued a memo authorizing the use of parole to catch and release new arrivals. He said there were going to be too many people coming and they would swamp the Border Patrol’s holding cells and create unsanitary conditions.
His deputy, in a court filing, told Judge Wetherell the choice was between catch-and-release or not catching them at all.
Parole is a special power the Department of Homeland Security has to pass people into the country even though they lack a visa or other permit that would allow them to enter. It is supposed to be used on a case-by-case basis in extraordinary circumstances, but under the Biden administration it has become a shadow immigration system, with 1.5 million paroles issued since Oct. 1, 2021.
Judge Wetherell earlier this year ruled against a border parole program, and expressed surprise when the administration created a new program that looked similar to the one he had enjoined.
As it turns out, the border numbers have dropped in the days since the end of Title 42 on Thursday, from about 10,000 a day down to just 6,300 on Friday and 4,200 on Saturday.
Judge Wetherell, in addition to his show cause order concerning The Times’ report, asked the Biden administration and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody — who is challenging the feds’ parole power — to file documents detailing exactly what is going on at the border right now.
“The parties likely have different views on what the numbers mean and how they impact the Court’s decisions on the stay and the preliminary injunction, but they should be able to agree on what the numbers are,” he wrote.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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