- A federal judge in Texas suspended the Biden government’s deportation moratorium for 14 days.
- The 100-day moratorium on deportations of certain immigrants was one of the executive immigration orders that President Biden signed on the first day of his presidency.
- The legal challenge in Texas is likely to be the first of many aimed at preventing the Biden government’s immigration reform goals.
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A Texas federal judge temporarily blocked the Biden government’s 100-day deportation moratorium on Tuesday, paralyzing the government’s first immigration reform goals.
The freeze, an executive order signed by President Biden alongside a pile of other executive orders from the first day, was blocked by U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton of the southern district of Texas.
Tipton was appointed by President Donald Trump, and on Tuesday Tipton determined that the Biden government memorandum was “probably illegal” and “not only fails to consider potential policies more limited in scope and time, but also fails to provide any concrete information and reasonable justification for a 100-day break in deportations. “
Tipton argued that Texas proved “that it pays millions of dollars annually to provide unpaid social services and health care expenses and other benefits provided by the state to illegal aliens, such as the Emergency Medicaid program, the Family Violence Program and Child Health Insurance. Texas Program. ”
Days before the lawsuit, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton indicated that Texas would challenge the memorandum in court, and the legal challenge came last Friday, the day the memorandum went into effect.
On Wednesday, Paxton called the decision “a much-needed remedy.”
On Twitter, he added, “Texas is the FIRST state in the country to file a lawsuit against Administrator Biden. AND WE WON. 6 days after Biden’s inauguration, Texas HALED his freeze on illegal deportation. * This * was a seditious leftist uprising. And my team and I stop. ”
Tipton’s decision interrupts the moratorium signed by acting Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske for 14 days. The moratorium prevented the United States government from deporting certain immigrants who entered the United States before November 1, when the new government decides on immigration after the 100-day period.
According to the AP, Tipton added that his order “is not necessarily permanent” and something that the court “is willing to review”.
The White House said in a statement that the moratorium was “entirely appropriate” and “President Biden remains committed to taking immediate steps to reform our immigration system to ensure that it upholds American values while keeping our communities safe.”
Some of the executive immigration orders signed by Biden included an order to stop the construction of the border wall, as well as a verbal commitment to strengthen the Deferred Action Program for Child Arrivals. The government also rescinded the Muslim ban put in place in the early days of the Trump administration.
A separate Texas court is trying to overturn DACA protections.
Judges are pointing to a DHS agreement signed between the Trump administration and Texas that requires a six-month consultation period between DHS and state governments before implementing immigration policy changes, according to Buzzfeed News.