The following article was first published on a newsletter on June 23, 2023 by the American Immigration Council.
Washington — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court held in an 8-1 decision that states do not have the authority to challenge the executive branch’s authority to establish enforcement priorities, which directs U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to primarily focus on people it considers to be a threat to public safety, national security, or border security. The Court ruled that courts do not have the authority to order law enforcement to carry out arrests and deportation. The Court declined to rule on the substantive questions of immigration law.
The lawsuit, United States v. Texas, brought by Texas and Louisiana questioned the immigration enforcement guidelines issued by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in September 2021. A federal court in Texas vacated the guidelines nationwide—a decision upheld by a court of appeals.
United States v. Texas required the Court to weigh into the federal government’s authority to exercise prosecutorial discretion—the right to decide who to arrest and remove. For decades—across Democratic and Republican administrations—written priorities have been essential for effective immigration enforcement.
The following statement is from Kate Melloy Goettel, legal director of the American Immigration Council:
“Rooted in the constitutional principle of separation of powers, today’s decision on enforcement priorities upholds the common-sense principle that courts should not interfere with decisions by law enforcement agencies like the Department of Homeland Security to prioritize their limited resources on more serious cases. As a result, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ enforcement priorities will go back into effect, permitting DHS officers to exercise greater discretion to consider the interests of justice when making decisions about immigration enforcement. By rejecting Texas’ standing to bring the lawsuit, the Supreme Court is sending a powerful message that courts should not be in the business of directing law enforcement’s decision-making and should give pause to states contemplating using the courts to drive a political strategy.”
The American Immigration Council works to strengthen America by shaping how America thinks about and acts towards immigrants and immigration and by working toward a more fair and just immigration system that opens its doors to those in need of protection and unleashes the energy and skills that immigrants bring. The Council brings together problem solvers and employs four coordinated approaches to advance change—litigation, research, legislative and administrative advocacy, and communications. In January 2022, the Council and New American Economy merged to combine a broad suite of advocacy tools to better expand and protect the rights of immigrants, more fully ensure immigrants’ ability to succeed economically, and help make the communities they settle in more welcoming. Follow the latest Council news and information on ImmigrationImpact.com and Twitter.
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