WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following recent reports from South Florida that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has refused to pursue federal criminal charges against individuals engaged in a human trafficking operation involving Ecuadorian and Chinese nationals smuggled into the Florida Keys, Senator Rick Scott led his colleagues in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, demanding answers. According to these reports, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida declined to file federal criminal charges against the human traffickers detained in this case for these clear violations of federal law. Joining Senator Scott on the letter are Senator Marco Rubio and Representatives Carlos Giménez, María Elvira Salazar and Mario Díaz-Balart.

This report is another example of the Biden-Harris administration’s pattern of not enforcing the law. Yesterday, Senator Scott hosted a press conference with fellow Republican senators on the dangerous consequences of the Biden-Harris administration’s soft-on-crime policies and border crisis, which have caused violent crime to rise across the United States. While the Biden-Harris administration continues to falsely claim that crime is down, the National Crime Victimization Survey, released by the Department of Justice last Thursday, shows violent crime has actually increased. Violent crime — including rape, robbery and aggravated assault — is up from 5.6 incidents per 1,000 people in 2020 to 8.7 incidents per 1,000 people in 2023. More than 1 in every 44 people reported being the victim of a violent crime in 2023. Robberies rose 52.9% between 2021-2023 under Biden and Harris. See more HERE.

Read the full letter HERE or below.

Dear Attorney General Garland and Secretary Mayorkas:

We are deeply disturbed by recent reports from South Florida that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has refused to pursue federal criminal charges against individuals engaged in a human trafficking operation involving Ecuadorian and Chinese nationals smuggled into the Florida Keys. We write to demand an explanation for this most recent failure to enforce the federal laws intended to keep our country safe and secure.

As you are certainly aware by now, on August 18, 2024, U.S. Border Patrol agents initially detained five individuals caught smuggling Chinese and Ecuadorian nationals aboard a small vessel that landed in Key Largo, Florida.[1] However, despite catching these traffickers and reportedly obtaining clear confessions of their crimes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida declined to file federal charges against the smugglers, which would have allowed them to walk free without any consequence for their criminal operation. Fortunately, Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay and 16^th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Dennis Ward took quick action to detain and prosecute these criminals for violations of state law, avoiding the inexcusable lack of law enforcement resulting from DOJ’s failure to fulfill its core responsibilities.

Make no mistake, your refusal to take action securing our national border and federally prosecuting these human traffickers to the fullest extent of the law serves only to encourage future violations of federal immigration law and to perpetuate the modern-day slave trade that is fueled by human trafficking operations. 

Secretary Mayorkas, it is your responsibility to secure our national borders. However, time and again we have seen state and local law enforcement forced to expend their limited resources to step up when the Biden-Harris administration and your agency fails or refuses to prevent and prosecute border incursions and human smuggling operations like we witnessed in Key Largo. It seems that Border Czar Kamala Harris need look no further for the “root causes” of the illegal immigration crisis that plagues our country than the incompetent members of her own administration. 

Attorney General Garland, it is DOJ’s responsibility to prosecute violations of our immigration laws that are necessary to preserve our national order and security. However, time and again you have shown greater interest in wasting taxpayer resources to target and pursue specious cases against the perceived political opponents of the Biden-Harris administration. Worse yet, your agency has pursued lawsuits against border states to prevent us from taking steps to secure our borders against the repeated incursions by foreign nationals from across the globe. 

We respectfully request you provide a detailed explanation as to why the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida declined to file federal criminal charges against the human traffickers detained in this case for these clear violations of federal law. Please provide this detailed response within two weeks of the date of this letter. 

Sincerely,

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