Supreme Court Rules Against Texas

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed with the Biden administration in an immigration dispute with Texas and Louisiana.

The High Court voted, 8-1, to revive guidelines that prioritize which noncitizens to deport, including ones seen as a threat to public safety.

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. was the only one to dissent.

The 2021 guidelines allowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents leeway to decide whether enforcement actions were needed.

Suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Louisiana AG Jeff Landry appealed the rules, and the issue was pushed to the Supreme Court. Texas and Louisiana argued that those with criminal records were burdens on state justice systems and that keeping them out of jail violated federal law.

In ruling the states lacked “standing,” the court limited the scope of when they may challenge federal policies with which they disagree.

Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion.

“In Sum, the States have brought an extraordinarily unusual lawsuit,” Kavanaugh wrote, in an opinion joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

“They want a federal court to order the Executive Branch to alter its arrest policies so as to make more arrests. Federal courts have not traditionally entertained that kind of lawsuit; indeed, the States cite no precedent for a lawsuit like this.”

The guidelines came from a September 2021 memo from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. It laid out Biden’s priorities on the removal of some border crossers. It was at odds with the former policy of President Donald Trump, who wanted more deportations.

The Supreme Court heard arguments in November on the case after expediting it.

In 2022, Judge Drew B. Tipton of the Federal District Court in Victoria blocked the guidelines. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans upheld Tipton’s ruling.

In another similar case brought by three other states, Arizona, Montana, and Ohio, an appeals court in Cincinnati let the guidelines stand.

“Federal law gives the national government considerable authority over immigration policy,” Chief Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton wrote.