A federal judge on Friday overturned the Biden government’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) restrictions, which dramatically restrict illegal immigrants from being arrested and deported – marking the Biden government’s latest legal defeat in immigration policy.
Texas Judge Drew Tipton, responding to a lawsuit filed by Texas and Louisiana alleging that the rules violated federal law, closed the policy but upheld the decision for seven days to give the Biden government time to appeal.
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The administration issued a memo in September that made official prior guidance restricting ICE agents from focusing on three groups of illegal immigrants: Recent border crossings, threats to national security and threats to public safety. The agency also told agents to consider factors such as military service.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mallorca said in a statement that this meant that the ICE’s illegal arrest or deportation was not enough – part of a Biden government’s dramatic immigration reform.
“We have radically changed the imposition of immigration inland,” Mallorca said in an interview. CBS News in January. “For the first time, our policy explicitly states that the illegal presence of a non-citizen in the United States will not, in itself, be the basis for enforcement action.
Tipton, in his ruling, said the government had not compromised its guidance with federal law, which requires detention in some cases. He said the government was “offering an incredible federal bill that goes against the restrictions imposed by Congress”.
“It is true that the Executive Department has the discretion on a case-by-case basis to abandon the imposition of immigration legislation on a particular individual,” he said. “This case, however, does not involve individual decision-making. “Instead, this case concerns a rule that binds Homeland Security officials in a general, forward-looking manner – all in violation of a congressional detention order.”
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According to politics, arrests and deportations have plummeted. In fiscal year 2021, which included the last months of the Trump administration, ICE arrested 74,082 non-citizens in 2021 and deported 59,011. Of the 74,082 arrests between October 2020 and October 2021, only 47,755 were made after February 18, when the new priorities were implemented. Of the transfers, only 28,677 of the 59,011 deportations took place after 18 February.
ICE agents make arrests on September 25, 2019 in Revere, Massachusetts. (Photo by Matt Stone / MediaNews Group / Boston Herald via Getty Images)
In the financial year 2020, there were 103,603 arrests and 185,884 deportations. In 2019, the service arrested 143,099 illegal immigrants and deported 267,258.
The government said that due to limited resources, policies allow the government to focus on the most pressing threats to the country. An ICE report released earlier this year said the agency had arrested 12,025 illegal immigrants with serious felony convictions, almost double the 6,815 arrested in 2020. Previous reports did not use the term “aggravated crime” and senior ICE officials have admitted that the definition of the term generally refers to more serious criminals, but also differs in different jurisdictions.
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Tipton said government regulations not only provide guidance to agents, the government claimed, but instead “provide a new basis on which foreigners can avoid being subject to immigration law enforcement.” It is therefore a rule and is also subject to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and is therefore subject to certain conditions, such as a notice and comment period.
The ruling marks the latest defeat for the Biden government over immigration issues. Tipton himself had previously blocked a proposed 100-day moratorium on deportations, as well as older ICE rules last year.
Similarly, the Biden government recently received a blow when a federal court in Louisiana rejected attempts to terminate Title 42 – a public health mandate that was enacted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic used to deport the majority of at the borders. The government was also instructed last year to re-implement the Trump-era Immigrant Protection Protocols (MPPs), which were found to have expired illegally.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called the decision a “massive defeat for the Biden administration.”
“He tried to overturn immigration law, saying DHS should not be holding criminals illegally. The court is now saying it should,” he wrote on Twitter. “I will always keep the line with the Democrats and the rule of law.”
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“Judge Tipton has confirmed what we have been arguing about ever since: law and order must prevail,” said Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry in a statement. “The Biden government can no longer allow dangerous and violent criminals to roam free in our communities.”
Tipton’s mandate delays implementation by seven days to allow Biden’s appeal. A DHS spokesman told Fox News Digital that he was “currently evaluating the court decision and considering the next steps”.
Adam Shaw is a political reporter for Fox News Digital, focusing on immigration. You can contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AdamShawNY
