(FreedomBeacon.com)- Last week, the Supreme Court refused to reinstate the Biden administration’s policy that limits the number of immigration detentions Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers are allowed to make after a Texas judge said the policy’s guidance to deportation officers violated federal law.
In a 5 to 4 decision, the Court decided it would hear the merits of the case in December while leaving in place the lower court’s ruling, meaning the Biden administration’s attempt to further hamstring the arrest and deportation of illegal aliens has been put on hold.
Voting to reinstate the Biden rule pending the Court’s decision were the three liberal justices, Sotomayor, Jackson, and Kagan, along with conservative justice, Amy Coney Barrett.
Last fall, the Department of Homeland Security directed ICE officers to prioritize for detention the illegals who pose a threat to national security and public safety while giving a pass to illegal migrants coming for work.
At the time, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said being in the country illegally in itself should not be the basis for arrest and removal.
Unsurprisingly, Republican attorneys general filed lawsuits challenging the policy. The lawsuits from Texas and Louisiana were successful.
Texas judge Drew Tipton agreed that the DHS policy places a financial burden on the state, forcing it to cover the cost of education, healthcare, and other services for non-citizens the Biden administration allows to remain in the country. Tipton also said the policy ignores federal laws requiring ICE to detain and remove illegals who have committed serious crimes or have been given a recent deportation order.
Tipton vacated the DHS policy and a panel from the 5th Circuit of the US Court of Appeals rejected the Biden administration’s request to put Tipton’s order on hold while the case made its way through the courts.
With last week’s ruling, the Supreme Court ensured Tipton’s ruling would remain in place while it hears the case in the first week of December.