Texas Judge Blocks Enforcement Of Biden’s 100-Day Deportation Order ‘Indefinitely’
A Texas judge has moved to freeze “indefinitely” the order of President Joe Biden declaring a 100-day moratorium on deportations — blocking the new Democratic administration’s attempt to put a halt on deportations for a few months.
“This preliminary injunction is granted on a nationwide basis and prohibits enforcement and implementation of the [100-day pause] in every place Defendants have jurisdiction to enforce and implement the January 20 Memorandum,” Judge Drew Tipton of the Southern District of Texas wrote in a 105-page order released Wednesday.
Tipton’s ruling is a win for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who earlier sued Biden’s order arguing that releasing undocumented immigrants into Texas would cause financial burden on the state because of health care and education costs. He said the moratorium would also lure other illegal immigrants into Texas, according to the Texas Tribune.
Financial burden on Texas
In his ruling, Judge Tipton, who was appointed by former president Donald Trump, said: “Texas claimed injury from unanticipated detention costs is sufficiently concrete and imminent. The harm is concrete or de facto because Texas incurs real financial costs in detaining criminal aliens.”
“[T]he core failure of DHS lies not in the brevity of the January 20 Memorandum or the corresponding administrative record, but instead in its omission of a rational explanation grounded in the facts reviewed and the factors considered,” Tipton said.
“This failure is fatal, as this defect essentially makes DHS’s determination to institute a 100-day pause on deportations an arbitrary and capricious choice.”
The freeze applies nationwide, not just in Texas. It will also be in place as the case continues to play out in courts or until a new order from a higher court is issued.
The ruling puts a major brake on Biden’s immigration agenda, which is mainly reversing the immigration legacy put forward by former president Donald Trump.
Tipton’s latest move comes after he already earlier issued a temporary pause on the moratorium twice.
Deportations continued under Biden
In his “temporary ban” earlier, the federal judge said the Democratic administration failed “to provide any concrete, reasonable justification for a 100-day pause on deportations.”
Reports said the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has deported immigrants to at least three countries the past days: 15 people to Jamaica and around 269 people to Guatemala and Honduras — with more deportation underway next week.
Meanwhile, immigration activists noted that despite the effort of the Biden administration to “distance” itself from the tough immigration policies of the former Trump government, “deportations have continued” because the current Democratic leadership did not lift a provision in the former rules allowing the ICE to “expel” certain illegal immigrants seeking asylum for public health reasons at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Republican lawmaker, Rep. Andy Biggs welcomed Judge Tipton’s ruling as he called for the government to prioritize Americans first.
“I applaud Judge Tipton’s ruling to ban the enforcement of President Biden’s 100-day deportation pause,” Senator Andy Biggs of Arizona wrote.
I applaud Judge Tipton’s ruling to ban the enforcement of President Biden’s 100-day deportation pause. https://t.co/eWNXR4okyW
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) February 24, 2021
“The federal government should be focused on reopening the economy and schools rather than protecting and absolving those who have illegally crossed our borders. We must secure our border and enforce our laws,” he added.
The federal government should be focused on reopening the economy and schools rather than protecting and absolving those who have illegally crossed our borders. We must secure our border and enforce our laws.
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) February 24, 2021
