Ohio Republican Senator Bernie Moreno is blasting a handful of judges in his state for claiming that “emergency” powers allow them to invalidate federal immigration laws and to prevent ICE from rounding up and deporting illegal aliens.
Moreno ripped these “rogue judges,” and one judge in particular, for claiming that they have the power to block ICE immigration enforcement activities in Ohio.
In his March 4 letter, the senator criticized Franklin County Judge Kim Brown and warned her that “no one is above the law,” but added, “And yet, you’re giving illegal aliens a pass.”
Moreno expressed his “sincere shock and disgust” at Judge Brown’s position that a county judge has the power to block federal immigration laws and called Brown and her colleagues “rogue judges.”
“According to multiple media outlets,” Moreno wrote, “rogue elected judges issued two ’emergency’ rules that attempt to nullify federal and state law, the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration Directive, and President Trump’s Executive Order by prohibiting civil arrests or deportations of illegal aliens on courthouse grounds without jumping through ridiculous contrary to law regulatory hoops, including obtaining the written approval of a Franklin County judge?”
The Senator went on to remind Judge Brown that interfering with ICE officers is a crime and that her “local rules” are illegal.
“Your ‘local rules,’ which fly in the face of federal and state law, the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration Directive, and President Trump’s Executive Order, protect illegal aliens that have entered the country illegally and who also may be in court to face other civil or criminal charges, all at the expense of Ohio taxpayers’ dollars and safety,” the Sen. exclaimed. “You should be ashamed.”
The Sen. did not mince words as he went on excoriating the judge for her conceit.
“I now turn to the form of your egregious rulemaking. Hilariously, you cite ‘due process’ and ‘access to justice on behalf of the entire public’ as justification for your lawlessness,” Moreno wrote. “You also issued these rules on an ’emergency’ basis, bypassing any input from the public. Do the American people receive due process and access to justice when 17 judges create and declare a fake emergency to prohibit a federal agency from enforcing the law to protect the homeland from the entry of illegal aliens? You can surely send the media a quote and talking points, but you can’t seem to post these asinine rules on your own public website for all Ohioans to see. Why are you wasting Ohioan’s time and resources to protect illegal aliens over your own constituents?”
Moreno went on to call Brown’s decision a “disgrace.”
The Sen. concluded ordering Judge Brown to supply legal analysis why her “local rules” are valid and can rightly invalidate federal immigration laws. Moreno asked Brown to pinpoint exactly what “emergency” gave her these powers. Why she and the other judges have not published the “local rules” on their websites. And how she expects to enforce said “local rules.”
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