US Supreme Court allows Biden’s shift on immigration enforcement

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday gave President Joe Biden’s administration the green light to move ahead with guidelines shifting immigration enforcement toward countering public safety threats, handing him a victory on the politically contentious issue in a legal battle with Texas and Louisiana.

The 8-1 decision overturned a judge’s ruling last year that had halted Department of Homeland Security (DHS) guidelines narrowing the scope of those who can be targeted by immigration agents for arrest and deportation.

The decision, authored by conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh, underscored the authority of the U.S. government’s executive branch to enforce federal law and decide who to arrest and prosecute, including in the context of immigration.

The guidelines reflected the Democratic president’s recalibration of U.S. immigration policy after the hardline approach taken by his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, who sought to broaden the range of immigrants subject to arrest and removal.

Biden’s policy prioritized apprehending and deporting non-U.S. citizens who pose a threat to national security, public safety or border security, giving agents more discretion to consider individual circumstances.

The Republican attorneys general of Texas and Louisiana filed suit to challenge Biden’s policy but the justices determined that the two states lacked the legal standing to bring the case.

Kavanaugh wrote that lawsuits alleging that the government has made insufficient arrests or prosecutions “run up against” the authority of the executive branch to enforce federal law.

“The executive branch – not the judiciary – makes arrests and prosecutes offenses on behalf of the United States,” Kavanaugh wrote.

Conservative Justice Samuel Alito dissented from the decision.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas praised the decision.

“The guidelines enable DHS to most effectively accomplish its law enforcement mission with the authorities and resources provided by Congress,” Mayorkas said.

In a Twitter post, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, called the decision “outrageous” for giving the Biden administration “carte blanche to avoid accountability for abandoning enforcement of immigration laws.”

Abbott added: “Texas will continue to deploy the National Guard to repel & turn back illegal immigrants trying to enter Texas illegally.”

Friday’s ruling stood in contrast to the Supreme Court’s action last July denying Biden’s request to block the lower court’s judgment and reinstate the new guidelines while the litigation proceeded. Four justices dissented from that decision, including the three liberal justices and conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett. All four were in the majority in Friday’s decision.

In another immigration-related ruling on Friday, the Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s decision invalidating a federal law that makes it a crime for a person to encourage illegal immigration as a violation of constitutional free speech protections. Biden’s administration had defended the law.

Republicans have criticized Biden as weak on immigration policy, saying his actions – including fewer detentions and deportations – have encouraged more illegal border crossings. The issue of immigration could figure prominently in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, with Biden seeking a second term in office and Trump running for his party’s nomination.

U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton ruled in favor of Texas and Louisiana in June 2022, suspending the policy nationwide. Tipton was appointed by Trump. The Supreme Court the following month voted 5-4 not to block Tipton’s ruling halting the guidelines.

In announcing the new guidelines in 2021, Mayorkas cited the longstanding practice of government officials exercising discretion to decide who should be subject to deportation and said that most immigrants subject to deportation “have been contributing members of our communities for years.”

The administration has said that U.S. officials have long relied on setting enforcement priorities considering that there are estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally.

Biden’s administration argued that the two states lacked the proper legal standing to sustain the lawsuit because they have not suffered direct harm due to the policy. Texas and Louisiana argued that they would be harmed by having to spend more money on law enforcement and social services due to an increase in non-U.S. citizens present within their borders.

During Biden’s first year in office, arrests and deportations of immigrants in the United States illegally declined compared to previous years. In the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, 2021, deportations dropped to 59,000 compared with 186,000 the prior year. In the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, 2022, such deportations reached 72,000.