(ConservativeHub.com) – Last week, the US Supreme Court has granted approval to President Joe Biden’s administration to proceed with immigration enforcement guidelines that aim to prioritize public safety threats. This decision represents a big win for the administration against Texas and Louisiana, according to Reuters.
By an 8-1 majority, the justices sided with the administration’s appeal against a judge’s decision to temporarily halt the implementation of narrower guidelines from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Texas and Louisiana had previously filed a lawsuit challenging Biden’s policy.
The Supreme Court determined that the two states didn’t have the proper legal standing bring the lawsuit, with Justice Samuel Alito issuing a dissenting opinion.
These guidelines reflect Biden’s shift in approach to immigration, departing from the policies kept during former President Donald Trump’s administration. While Trump worked to increase the number of migrants who could be arrested and deported, Biden’s policy focuses on apprehending and removing migrants who are considered threats to the US and the safety of the people. This approach provides immigration agents with the ability to make more decisions on a case-by-case basis.
Biden’s immigration policy has drawn criticism from Republicans who argue that he hasn’t done enough to address the problems at the border and that his policies are contributing to them.
In June 2022, U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton decided to side with Texas and Louisiana, temporarily halting the policy, according to Reuters. Later, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to not stop Tipton’s ruling, effectively pausing the implementation of the guidelines.
When the guidelines were initially announced in 2021, Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security, referenced the fact that government officials have been using discretion to decide who should be deported for a long time. Mayorkas also highlighted that many immigrants facing deportation had been productive members of their communities for many years.
The Biden administration argues that enforcement priorities have traditionally been set due to the fact that around 11 million migrants are believed to be residing in the US without legal status.
The two states made the argument that the policy would place additional financial burdens on their police and social services due to the increased presence of non-U.S. citizens.
The Biden administration countered by asserting that the two states couldn’t legally sustain the lawsuit since they had not directly suffered harm as a result of the policy.
Reuters reported that detainments and deportations decreased during Biden’s first year as Presidet. Deportations dropped to 59,000 in the fiscal year that came to an end on September 30, 2021, down from 186,000 in 2020. However, by the end of the following fiscal year, deportations increased to 72,000.
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