On Thursday, the Supreme Court declined to put an immediate hold on a verdict from a lower court that blocked the Biden administration from giving priority for deportation solely to illegal immigrants who represent the greatest threat to public safety.
It was a close vote, with the conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, indicating that they would have permitted the Biden administration to put in place the guidelines if it had been up to them. The final result was 5-4.
As a result of the decision issued by the court, the policy is currently suspended across the whole country. The court is scheduled to hear arguments regarding the matter later this year.
Following conflicting decisions by federal appeals courts regarding a directive from the Department of Homeland Security that paused deportation unless individuals had committed acts of terrorism, espionage, or “egregious threats to public safety,” the justices acted on an emergency request from the administration to the court. This prompted the judges to take action.
In a case brought by Arizona, Ohio, and Montana, the federal appeals court in Cincinnati ruled earlier this month that a district judge’s ruling that placed a stay on the program should be reversed.
However, in a separate lawsuit brought by Texas and Louisiana, a federal court in Texas issued an injunction that stopped the instructions from being implemented anywhere in the country. A panel of federal appellate judges in New Orleans decided not to get involved.
In their petition to the Supreme Court, the states of Texas and Louisiana argued that the guidance provided by the administration violates a federal law that mandates the indefinite detention of individuals who are present in the United States unlawfully and have been convicted of serious offenses. The states have stated that they would incur more expenditures due to being required to jail individuals whom the federal government may permit to stay free inside the United States despite their prior convictions.
The guideline, published after Joe Biden became president, modified a policy throughout the Trump administration that removed illegal immigrants regardless of whether or not they had a criminal past or community links.
