At one time and for many years before reality TV game show host Donald Trump was inexplicably elected to the presidency, immigration enforcement officers were given some leeway in determining whether or not an arrest should be made when encountering a suspected undocumented immigrant. Trump, of course, made changes to that policy that pleased his racist fanbase, overfilled detention centers to the point of cruelty, and left families shattered over a misdemeanor offense by otherwise law-abiding people.
The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday largely halted a judge's order that would have upended ICE's enforcement priorities, marking a judicial win for the Biden admin after a handful of setbacks. https://t.co/W5nPI2qVNb
— Priscilla Alvarez (@priscialva) September 15, 2021
President Joe Biden issued an order to end that policy and revert back to a time when only undocumented immigrants who pose a threat to public safety were arrested and detained, an order that Judge Drew Tipton of the Southern District of Texas blocked, calling it “arbitrary and capricious.” The 5th Circuit Federal Appeals case removed that block while the case makes it way through the court process.
According to CNN:
‘The case, brought by Texas and Louisiana, challenged a memo issued in the beginning of President Joe Biden‘s term that instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement to focus its arrests on certain undocumented immigrants, particularly those who posed national security risks or had serious criminal histories.
‘The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals found that the provisions do not eliminate immigration officials’ “broad discretion” to decide who should face enforcement action, according to the ruling. The part of the injunction that was not put on hold is already in line with general enforcement protocol.’
Racists lose again. https://t.co/yEeHNbeSkP
— Russ Fraley (@PappyParki) September 15, 2021
It’s a difficult argument to make that a policy that was in use in the United States for years would suddenly cause undue harm to immigrants due to its arbitrariness when, without it, mass arrests, detentions, and family separations occurred. 5th Circuit Judge Gregg Costa wrote in the court’s ruling that:
‘We do not see a strong justification for concluding that the (Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996) detention statutes override the deep-rooted tradition of enforcement discretion when it comes to decisions that occur before detention, such as who should be subject to arrest, detainers, and removal proceedings…That means the United States has shown a likelihood of prevailing on appeal.’
Appeals Court Gives Biden Admin Immigration Victory #immigration #migrants #immigrationreform https://t.co/4l1nEo1Ncq pic.twitter.com/NDJmRzaK83
— 710 KURV (@710KURV) September 15, 2021
Although the GOP will certainly continue to argue that Biden’s policies are all about “open borders,” the continued enforcement of the blanket arrest policy actually makes policing the border more difficult, taking resources away from immigration enforcement at the border.
‘The Justice Department argued that there aren’t sufficient resources to detain the millions of undocumented immigrants in the US, in building the case for a priority system, and that deviating from that would require pulling ICE agents from the US southern border, where they’re assisting authorities.’
A #US appeals court says the #Biden administration can continue to limit who can be arrested by US immigration agents pending the outcome of its appeal of a federal judge’s ruling that blocked a memo on new enforcement priorities. https://t.co/Jln0DRr4DJ
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) September 15, 2021
