A recent ruling by Texas Judge Drew Tipton struck down President Joe Biden’s attempt to limit deportations. In an effort to overhaul the immigration practices set in place by the Trump Administration, President Biden attempted to curb deportations by having ICE prioritize deportations based on criminal records. Judge Tipton asserted that the states demonstrated a:
“substantial likelihood that the policy surrounding the detention of certain immigrants set forth in the Memoranda is arbitrary and capricious under the [the Administrative Procedure Act] and the Memoranda fail to comply with the APA’s notice and comment requirement.”
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President Biden’s ICE Enforcement Policy
Under the rules set forth by Biden during his first 100 days, ICE was ordered to narrow its focus on immigrants who pose a significant threat to border security, public safety, and national security. These changes were intended to sharply curb deportations and immigrant arrests. Opponents of the new policy, like Judge Tipton, found the relaxed enforcement was too lax and would negatively impact public safety by allowing criminal aliens to roam the streets freely while making ICE’s job to keep Americans safe more challenging.
U.S. District Judge Tipton’s Ruling
Judge Tipton, a Trump appointee, believes that President Biden’s orders “violates the Administrative Procedure Act and that the decision to arrest and detain someone cannot be made through agency discretion.”
Judge Tipton argued that by prioritizing the detention of some immigrants over others, the government was using discretion it did not legally have.
He also ordered the Biden Administration to file monthly reports on immigrants that were released from custody and not immediately detained by ICE.
How Does The Recent Ruling Affect The U.S’s Border Policy?
The ruling is just the latest setback for the Biden Administration’s attempt at an immigration policy overhaul. Other setbacks include having its deportation moratorium blocked, the narrowing of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and the ruling to restart a controversial policy aimed at keeping asylum-seekers in Mexico until their status is approved.
How Will The Ruling Affect Arrests?
Biden’s original guidelines played out how ICE is working with limited resources and other constraints like the global pandemic, ongoing lawsuits, and the “responsibility” of ensuring that people who are eligible for relief through the immigration courts are able to obtain it.
Since ICE officers were required to receive preapproval from their local superiors to decide whether to arrest or deport people who were not deemed a ‘priority’ was also a stipulation of Biden’s guidelines, if Judge Tipton’s ruling stands, ICE will have more discretion when making arrests. As a result, arrests will likely go up.
What Happens Next?
In his ruling, Judge Tipton required the government to report back by September 3rd on the ruling. A Department of Justice attorney said the judge’s ruling would have a major impact on immigration enforcement by eliminating the existing enforcement guidelines.
“This injunction will cause public safety harm,” said Adam Kirschner. “It will cause harm to the country. The injunction completely upends the entire system the agency is operating under.”
On September 15, a three-judge panel significantly limited the scope of Judge Tipton’s order, finding that the terms do not eliminate immigration officials’ “broad discretion” powers to decide who should face enforcement action. The ruling, written by Judge Gregg Costa, reads as follows:
“For these reasons, we do not see a strong justification for concluding that the (Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996) detention statutes override the deep-rooted tradition of enforcement discretion when it comes to decisions that happen before detention, such as who should be subject to arrest, detainers, and removal proceedings.”
The ruling also nodded to Biden’s assertion about DHS’ strain on resources, stating that eliminating the agency’s ability to prioritize removals poses a number of practical problems given DHS’ limited resources.
Contact Attorney Eric Price Today!
Contact Attorney Eric Price today if you have any questions about ICE, immigration laws, or immigration to the United States in general. Price is an expert immigration attorney with decades of experience helping clients win their immigration cases and start their lives in the United States. Attorney Eric Price is consistently ranked among the top immigration attorneys in Los Angeles. Contact us today to learn more and request a free case evaluation. We look forward to serving you.
