Washington, D.C. (September 15, 2022) – On this week’s episode of
Parsing Immigration Policy, Todd Rokita, the 44
th Attorney General of the state of Indiana, discusses legal actions his state has taken to combat illegal immigration. Attorney General Rokita has taken on a leadership role in challenging the Biden administration’s lack of immigration enforcement.
AG Rokita says, “The foundational part of our ‘American Exceptionalism’ is the rule of law and we’re nothing if we’re not going to follow the law… and we’re not all under it.” Due to a lack of enforcement of immigration laws, there are over 124,000 illegal immigrants in the state of Indiana, putting a strain on Indiana’s social services and driving up crime and fentanyl overdose numbers in the state.
“We are all border states, including Indiana,” under the Biden administration’s policies, says AG Rokita.
Numerous lawsuits were filed by Democratic states to block various immigration programs that President Donald Trump attempted to implement to deter fraud and constrain illegal immigration. Now, as Congress fails to act, Republican AGs are following suit against the Biden administration. As AG Rokita puts it, “It’s a tool in my toolbox.”
In his closing commentary, Mark Krikorian, the Center’s executive director and host of
Parsing Immigration Policy, highlights the executive branch’s usurpation of Congress’ plenary power over immigration policy and calls on Congress to remove discretion in immigration areas from the executive. As an example of executive overreach, Krikorian cites the refugee resettlement program which is now overlooking real refugees in need of resettlement in favor of new categories of people.
