Alejandro Mayorkas got that blank stare slapped off his face by his favorite judge. That’s when T. Kent Wetherell came real close to hitting him with contempt of court penalties. The Minister of Domestic Security gets away with it, this time, the judge declares, because he wasn’t as clear in his ruling as he could have been. Now that he’s been warned specifically, he’d better not try it again.
Mayorkas didn’t mean to
The only thing that saved Alejandro Mayorkas from contempt of court charges was the lack of “intent” to violate the judge’s order. Federal judge T. Kent Wetherell did give the official a blistering lecture, though. He “rebuked the Department of Homeland Security for releasing 2,567 illegal immigrants on ‘parole‘” even after he had issued a temporary restraining order.”
Now that they’re loose in America, Wetherell is insisting to know where each and every one of them are at all times. The judge is demanding “the department track what happens to those migrants as they disperse throughout the country.”
The way Wetherell sees it, those migrants “should not have been released.” But, he adds, “because his restraining order wasn’t clear enough on what conduct was being blocked, he cannot conclude that Homeland Security officials intentionally flouted it and thus would not hold department officials in contempt.” Not this time.
Judge T. Kent Wetherell ordered the Biden administration to show cause as to why it should not be held in contempt for violating the temporary restraining order. | @JeffZymeri https://t.co/KcE0bo68dz
— National Review (@NRO) May 17, 2023
“It was the court’s expectation and intention that no aliens would be released under the authority of the Parole with Conditions policy after the [temporary restraining order] went into effect because, in the court’s mind, the policy is still being ‘implemented‘ when the alien is released from custody, irrespective of when the alien’s processing was ‘fully completed.’” Mayorkas may have bent the ruling but didn’t quite break it.
From now on, “Homeland Security will be required to track the migrants and report back in 60 days on how many actually showed up at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices to pick up their immigration court summonses.” Mayorkas needs to be holding a big stack of “Notice to Appear” forms the next time he stands in front of Judge Wetherell.
He doesn’t want a boring list of statistics, “the report will also have to detail where the migrants ended up and how they checked in.” They also have to account for each and every one that falls out of the net. “Homeland Security Department must also report on steps it is taking to track down those who fail to report.”
Show cause order
Alejandro Mayorkas was stunned senseless when the process server handed him the judge’s “show cause order.” Wetherell compelled the official to explain why he doesn’t belong in a cell for using “its parole power to release roughly 2,500 migrants on Friday.”
That, the judge pointed out, “was after his restraining order went into effect.” Nobody can deny that’s exactly what happened.
Mayorkas sheepishly admitted they turned loose 2,576 new citizens but thought they were allowed to because the new Democrat voters “had been ‘fully processed‘ on parole before the order kicked in.” They still don’t seem to get the idea that the whole “parole” scheme is the illegal part. It seems that what really happened is they were terrified to tell the ones who were expecting release that they had to stay in custody.
Afederal judge is considering holding Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials in contempt over their suspected noncompliance with his temporary restraining order.
Late last Thursday, Judge Thomas Kent Wetherell of the U.S. District Court for the
— Adams684 (@Adams6841) May 18, 2023
“Because Customs and Border Protection generally avoids overnight releases, the migrants were kept in custody until Friday.” By then, it was too late but they were told “quick, get out of here before anyone notices.”
Mayorkas defended himself to the judge by explaining that “they considered the paroles completed before the order, even though the releases were not.” That’s when Judge Wetherell got angry. He patiently used small words even Biden regime officials can understand to reiterate that his restraining order had prohibited the department from “implementing or enforcing” parole. “Indeed, the entire point of the policy is to release aliens from custody more quickly, and it is hard to understand how an alien can be both ‘paroled‘ and in custody at the same time.”
While he was steamed at what happened he extended some leniency. “Homeland Security officials should have asked for clarification about the post-parole releases. But he said he couldn’t find them in contempt of his order — particularly because CBP did appear to be diligent in halting processing of parole, even if it did release parolees.” Just don’t let it happen again. To make sure Mayorkas doesn’t, “the judge, in a separate ruling Tuesday, converted his restraining order into a preliminary injunction.“
