The Supreme Court decided not to intervene in a conflict regarding an immigration policy from the Biden era. This policy enabled immigration judges to halt certain deportation processes temporarily. The decision leaves a legal block on the regulation intact.
Democratic-led cities and a legal group filed an emergency appeal to defend the policy, claiming it aided crime victims and neglected youth. However, the justices rejected this appeal. In a statement shared with Newsweek by Democracy Forward, representing the applicants with Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann LLP, the parties expressed their disappointment.
The state of Texas challenged the “administrative closure” practice in court, arguing the policy expanded significantly under President Joe Biden, allowing indefinite stays for some immigrants. Texas and the Trump administration agreed on a court order to halt the regulation. Administrative closure lets judges pause deportation for immigrants seeking humanitarian protection or legal status in the U.S.
Baltimore, Columbus in Ohio, and New Haven in Connecticut, along with Centro Legal de la Raza, attempted to defend the policy. Their attempts were rejected by a judge, prompting an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court next.
For decades, these proceedings have given judges the ability to pause deportation for people seeking lawful relief, including violence survivors, abused and neglected minors, and individuals who help law enforcement.
The Justice Department recommended rejecting the appeal, suggesting that applicants didn’t prove their immediate legal harm. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the cities’ intervention sought a broader challenge to the agreed settlement.
Sauer emphasized that the applicants were trying to leverage their request for a broader legal strategy, stating they had not shown irreparable harm while the appeal was pending.
The National Immigration Law Center criticized the High Court’s decision, saying it endorsed an unjust immigration policy. According to Lynn Damiano Pearson, director at the center, without administrative closure, judges might have to issue deportation orders to those on a path to lawful status due to processing delays. She warned this could have dire consequences for immigrants and their communities.
Newsweek contacted the Justice Department for their comments on the matter.