The president’s criminal defense lawyer-turned-Deputy Attorney General is getting mocked for his patchy grasp of the law.
Department of Justice official Todd Blanche, 51, got the criminal status of undocumented immigrants wrong during an appearance on This Week with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday.
“The president said he was going to prioritize those who had criminal records. But about 70% at least of those who have been detained don’t have criminal records,” the ABC News host noted.
Blanche then insinuated that all undocumented immigrants were criminals, reasoning: “Well, just—hang on. The fact that they’re here illegally is a crime.
“And so when you say they don’t have criminal records, by their presence, being here without status, having come into this country illegally or overstayed illegally, that is a crime. And so we have to be careful.”
The Deputy Attorney General then addressed the legality of keeping detained persons in custody rather than allowing bail. Blanche judged that keeping detainees locked up was the right move.
“And you’re right, there is a schism in the law right now about whether an illegal alien can be held pending their proceeding or whether they need to be released on bail,” Blanche said. “We very strongly believe that they should be held.”
On X, many viewers were stunned to see a career lawyer bungle a major facet of immigration law.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said of Blanche’s comments: “That’s the Deputy Attorney General getting the law wrong on TV. But don’t trust me, here’s the Supreme Court making the point.”
Melnick attached a summary of Arizona v. United States, a 2012 Supreme Court ruling that held that it “is not a crime to for a removable alien to remain present in the United States.”
Opens in new windowOthers couldn’t decide whether Blanche was simply wrong or was purposefully twisting the law to fit an agenda.
“Pretty crazy that the Deputy AG in this country (1) doesn’t understand our immigration laws or (2) is intentionally misstating those laws and lying to America,” one person wrote.
“It is not a crime it is a civil infraction. This is a gross perversion of the law,” said a third, with even Elon Musk’s AI bot Grok wading in to confirm that Blanche’s representation of undocumented immigrants as criminals was untrue.
Blanche’s understanding of criminal law might help explain his recent comments regarding protests in Minnesota.
“Look at these images. A protester on the ground being pepper-sprayed. A five-year-old being detained. A U.S. citizen being pulled out of his home half-naked, later released upon determination he was wrongly detained. Are federal agents acting humanely?” Kristen Welker asked Blance on Meet the Press last week.
“Yes. Our agents are acting humanely. Their jobs are very, very difficult. It is a very difficult place to be, going out and trying to arrest these violent felons with no support from local law enforcement, with no support from the governor,” Blanche replied.
