Operation Talon is a nationwide ICE operation that began in the final weeks of the Trump administration which works to remove illegal immigrants who are convicted sex offenders. President Biden has just canceled the program.
Citing his "grave concerns," Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is leading 18 states in trying to get Biden to reverse his abrupt decision. He addressed a letter to the president, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Johnson.
“Today, I’m pleased to lead this coalition of 17 other states in urging President Biden to reverse the decision to cancel Operation Talon, which focuses on removing convicted sex offenders who are illegally in the United States," Schmitt said in a statement on Friday. "Broadcasting that sexual predators and traffickers are potentially immune from deportation or other legal action only worsens the crises of sexual assault and trafficking at the border and potentially in Missouri. In combating human trafficking in Missouri, we strive to send the message that our state is inhospitable to trafficking through our actions and initiatives - The United States needs to send the same message.”
The cancellation of the program, they write, sends a dangerous message to the world.
“The cancellation of this program effectively broadcasts to the world that the United States is now a sanctuary jurisdiction for sexual predators. This message creates a perverse incentive for foreign sexual predators to seek to enter the United States illegally and assault more victims, both in the process of unlawful migration and after they arrive. It will also broadcast the message to other criminal aliens who have committed less heinous offenses that any kind of robust enforcement against them is extremely unlikely.”
AG Schmitt's message was also signed by the attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
You can read their entire urgent letter here.
As former ICE director Thomas Homan explained on Fox News, the Biden administration's more lax approach to illegal immigration is going to become a serious issue.
"You have to commit a serious felony and be convicted of it to be even prioritized for arrest and removal and that sends a message to the rest of the world," Homan told Fox. "If you can get by the Border Patrol, as long as you are not convicted of a serious felony after you're here, you can stay -- because ICE isn’t looking for you."
"It’s another enticement, another message to the rest of the world that's going to cause a bigger surge at the border for people trying to get into the country," he said.
On Thursday Katie reported on Biden's sweeping amnesty bill which would grant an 8-year path to citizenship to at least 11 million illegal immigrants.