Ken Cuccinelli said Monday that a federal judge's ruling that he was unlawfully appointed as the acting head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has nothing to do with his current position as acting Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and it will be appealed.
"Ironically because the succession for the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security ties back to my original position at UCIS, there's not a problem with me and my current position," Cuccinelli said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "You can expect an appeal, and we'll take intermediate steps to avoid any challenges."
On Sunday, a federal judge ruled that Cuccinelli was unlawfully appointed as acting head of USCIS, and said that policies that were connected to asylum seekers through his tenure were invalid.
The ruling was made on a lawsuit filed last year by Democracy Forward, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., and Proskauer Rose LLP soon after the immigration hardliner took office. The DHS oversees USCIS.
Even though the judge in the case invalidated the policies, Cuccinelli said "you can expect to see those reissued and validated, and that's just as a precautionary measure while an appeal goes forward, so it will be business as usual until this is all played out.
Meanwhile, Trump has been forced to name acting directors because Democrats in the Senate "have imposed a record number of blocks" on his nominees, said Cuccinelli.
He also commented on bus companies such as Greyhound who have said they will not allow Border Patrol officers who do not have warrants to get on their vehicles to check passengers' identifications.
"The real issue here is doing enforcement at transportation hubs," said Cuccinelli. "I've got news for you and this bus company; we're going to keep doing enforcement at those transportation hubs, within the boundaries of the law, as we have for decades."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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