U.S. Supreme Court justices turned down a request to pause an agreement between Texas and the Department of Justice that removed a Biden-era rule allowing immigration judges to suspend some deportation proceedings.
The Court turned down the request in a brief, unsigned order with no noted dissents.
Baltimore, Maryland; New Haven, Connecticut; Columbus, Ohio; and Centro Legal de la Raza, a legal services group for immigrants, had demanded the emergency pause after other courts declined to halt the order.
The pause would have temporarily blocked U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor’s consent judgment that abolished “administrative closure.”
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) adopted the “administrative closure” rule in 2024, authorizing immigration judges to indefinitely suspend certain deportation proceedings such as when a crime victim or witness was seeking another form of immigration relief.
In June, Texas argued in federal court that the EOIR does not have the power to adopt the administrative-closure rule. The Justice Department joined Texas’ efforts.
With both parties in agreement, no one in the case was arguing to keep the rule in place.
Judge O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas found the rule unlawful and entered a consent judgment vacating it.
The three cities and Centro Legal de la Raza attempted to join the case to appeal the consent judgment.
However, O’Connor determined that the challengers did not have standing to sue. He rejected the cities’ argument that eliminating the rule would cost them money because their taxpayers are likely to be deported.
After the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit declined to pause the consent judgment, the challengers requested the Supreme Court pause the order on October 9.
The application went to Justice Samuel Alito, who handles emergency matters from the Fifth Circuit. An order submitted October 27 denied the request.
The challengers’ appeal remains pending before the Fifth Circuit, but the rule will remain vacated while the appeal moves forward.
