Despite the Biden administration’s objections, the Department of Homeland Security will still be required to detain illegal aliens with certain criminal convictions.
Texas and Louisiana challenged guidance the Department of Homeland Security released late September 2021 that prioritized the apprehension and removal of illegals “who are a threat to our national security, public safety, and border security,” implicitly deprioritizing the apprehension and removal of other illegal aliens. Judge Drew Tipton of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas ruled that the memo was “arbitrary and capricious contrary to law, and failing to observe procedure under the Administrative Procedure Act.” and barred the guidance from going into effect.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Biden Administration’s request to suspend a lower-court’s decision.
When the Biden administration appealed, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the ruling from Judge Tipton, and declined to suspend the ruling from the district court as appeal procedures were taking place.
The Biden administration’s attitude towards the border crisis is best exemplified by the attempt to freeze deportations at the beginning of Biden’s term. The deportation freeze was banned by a federal judge after Paxton and other state attorneys general sued the administration.
However, negligence towards the border invasion does not diminish the severity of the crisis. Millions of illegals are pouring across the border, and as of May 2022, the Federation for American Immigration Reform estimated that America harbors 15.5 million illegal aliens.
More than 1.7 million illegals have poured across the border since the beginning of fiscal year 2022. While the number of illegals crossing the border decreased, the Border Patrol reported that there was a 4 percent increase in unaccompanied minors. cocaine and meth seizures increased by 62 percent and 14 percent respectively.
Just last month, the Border Patrol announced it has seized $150,500 worth of fentanyl, and another $38,700 worth of heroin at a checkpoint on Highway 86. More than $600,000 worth of cocaine was seized at the World Trade Bridge in Laredo on July 11th. 100,000 people died in 2021 due to the administration’s decision to neglect drug trafficking, much of which takes place at the border.
Local EMT resources are being consumed at unsustainable rates, property is being violated, stolen, and vandalized by swarms of invaders including people on the terrorist watchlist. AG Ken Paxton reported that illegal immigrants cost Texas taxpayers more than $850 million in 2021, $152 million of which went to housing, $90 million went to Medicaid, and between $579 million and $717 million went to uncompensated medical care.
The case against the Biden administration was won in a district court, the Biden administration unsuccessfully attempted to suspend the district court ruling in the Court of Appeals.
AG Ken Paxton commented “Biden just can’t help himself from breaking immigration law” in a tweet after SCOTUS announced the Dept. of Homeland Security “must detain criminal illegal aliens.”
Biden just can’t help himself from breaking immigration law. They’ve begged every court to let them off the hook, & every time the court says “no.” SCOTUS has made clear that Biden must detain criminal illegal aliens. https://t.co/ECEf3PVjaI
— Texas Attorney General (@TXAG) July 22, 2022
However, SCOTUS has granted the case Certiorari, and is expected to hear oral arguments the first week of the December 2022 argument session. Some of the questions to be heard are if Texas has “Article III standing to challenge the Department of Homeland Security’s Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Law”, whether the Guidelines by the Biden administration are contrary to U.S Code, “or otherwise violate the Administrative Procedure Act.”
Until then, the Biden administration will have to settle for arresting and deporting criminals illegally crossing the border, in accordance with the law.
