In a significant decision, the Supreme Court has breathed new life into President Biden’s immigration enforcement plan, which aims to prioritize public safety threats, Your Content has learned.
With an 8-1 vote, the justices overturned a previous ruling by a Texas-based federal judge that had blocked the policy nationwide.
The plan had been in effect for less than a year before it was halted.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the majority, stated that the challengers lacked legal standing to sue over the plan.
He emphasized the long-standing discretion that federal officials have in enforcing laws and deemed the lawsuit brought by Texas and Louisiana as “extraordinarily unusual.”
Kavanaugh also noted that federal courts typically do not handle such cases and suggested that alternative avenues, such as actions by Congress, are available for the states to address their concerns.
The sole dissenter, Justice Samuel Alito, expressed disagreement, arguing that the court’s decision implied the president had unlimited power to disregard laws.
However, the majority did not address the appropriateness of potential actions in this instance.
President Biden’s plan, announced in September 2021, represents a departure from the strict enforcement approach of his predecessor, Donald Trump.
The administration asserts that due to the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., prioritizing certain cases is necessary due to resource limitations.
Texas and Louisiana promptly challenged the plan, contending that federal immigration law mandates the detention of specific categories of undocumented immigrants, including those convicted of serious crimes.
They argued that Biden’s policy, which involved individual assessments of public safety or national security threats before initiating deportation proceedings, violated this requirement.
The Biden administration’s lawyers maintained that the president possesses broad discretion in setting enforcement priorities.
U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, a Trump appointee, had previously blocked the policy, citing its unlawfulness and improper implementation procedures.
Tipton deemed Texas as having standing since it demonstrated that immigrants who should have been detained were present in the state and had committed crimes.
Republicans have consistently accused President Biden of a lenient approach to enforcement and border security, alleging that this has contributed to an increase in crime and unauthorized entries into the country.
In a separate immigration-related ruling, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, upheld a federal law criminalizing the act of inducing illegal immigration.
Both of these rulings represent victories for the Biden administration, according to NBC.