Supreme Court Blocks Biden From Limiting Deportations

In what one immigration campaigner blasted as “a radical, unprecedented decision,” the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Biden administration from resuming a policy limiting migrant deportations.

In a 5-4 vote, the court rejected an emergency appeal from the administration and upheld an order from a Texas judge compelling the government to deport immigrants who have been convicted of serious crimes.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, tweeted: “At stake, in this case, is a fundamental question; can a president choose who to target for deportation? For generations, the answer was yes. The Supreme Court repeatedly reaffirmed this point. But now that discretion is at risk of being stripped away.”

Shortly after taking office, Biden, disavowing former President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, issued guidance prioritizing the deportation of people deemed to pose the biggest risk to public safety.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined liberal justices Elena Kagan, Sonya Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson in saying they would have granted the administration’s request. It was Jackson’s first public vote since joining the court.

The high court said it would hear oral arguments in the case, United States v. Texas, in December.

Reichlin-Melnick noted that “the Supreme Court repeatedly granted the Trump administration emergency relief in situations that were far less extreme than this order.”

“SCOTUS has basically just allowed a lone Trump-appointed judge in Texas the power to tell a president what immigration priorities it can and can’t enforce,” tweeted the advocacy group El Otro Lado.

Originally published at Commondreams.org.